The World's Salvation
by snakeboy33
Summary: When Erza brings home a massive game, naturally, something bad happens. Now sixteen members of Fairy Tail are scattered across both the Old World and the New, and have to find each other if they want to get home. How will they respond to this world, or more importantly, how will this world respond to them? Be sure to check it out.
1. A Game

_**A Game**_

"Okay, what the hell?" Lucy asked. She was the most recent of several people to ask that when she came down the game room, and found a massive game board, taking up a good chunk of the space.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Erza said proudly, as she took a place next to Lucy.

"What is it?"

"Its a game."

"I can guess that, but what kind of game?"

"I got it as part of my reward in my last job, and I've been studying the rules non-stop since last night," Erza explained, "Basically, its like chess, only taken to a very violent level." If that was the case, then it was a game that probably thoroughly suited Fairy Tail. Her curiosity piqued, Lucy approached the table, where she saw a bunch of models of various warriors and people. Most of her guild mates were also gathered around the table, screwing around with the models.

"These models are really cool!" Natsu said, as he looked over some dragon models, passing one to Wendy, "Though Igneel wouldn't ever let anyone ride him."

"Neither would Grandeeney," Wendy piped up. Lucy then noticed that the dragons had small armored figures on their backs.

"Imagine if I was a dragon, I'd be the coolest cat ever!" Happy declared, as he held up a model dragon, "I'd be able to carry Natsu anywhere, and fight with him!"

"Then its a good thing I guess you aren't a dragon," Carla answered, floating next to Happy over the board.

"So, how is the game played?" Lucy asked.

"Well, you've got to choose a race, and then you make the armies fight," Erza answered.

"That's it?"

"Hell no," Gray answered, holding a model of his own, "There are tons of complicated rules to this, that I really have no idea how they work." The model he was wearing was some kind of soldier holding a rifle.

"We should be allies in this!" Juvia declared, holding up the model of her own, which was a model of some kind of armored skeleton or mummy.

"I'm not sure if you're two factions can be allies," Cana said, holding a model of some short statured, axe carrying figure. The blonde looked around, and noticed several of her guild mates doing similar things with other kinds of models. Mirajane was looking at some dark armored figures, while her siblings were both looking at what looked like minotaur figurines, while Gajeel was fooling around with some weird green things. Even the Thunder Legion were looking at weird rat creatures; well Bixlow was, Lucy, out of curiosity, looked over the model sets for herself. One group of models that quickly caught her eye were some upright lizards. Lucy had to admit, they were pretty cool. She then glanced up, sensing a presence, and noticed Mavis had made herself appear in the room, glaring at the game board.

"What's up, First Master?" Laxus asked, who was leaning on the wall next to her.

"This game makes me uneasy," Mavis answered, "I can place it, but something keeps sending a chill up and down my spine." Lucy wasn't sure what to think about Mavis' words there, but she didn't get that kind of chill.

"So are we going to play or not?" Gajeel asked, "I've got to prove that I'm the best here!"

"Hold your horses," Levy said, holding up a book, "We've got to know the rules." She then opened it, and started flipping through the book.

"So how does it look?" Lucy asked, standing next to her friend, looking over her shoulder.

"Complicated, _really_ complicated," Levy answered, making a face, as she flipped through it using the magic reading glasses. This might take awhile for us to really grasp."

"Well, jobs are slow, so we've got the time," Erza said, "I know who I'm playing as." She held up a model of a knight on horseback. As Levy finished reading, she came to the back.

"There's some kind of writing here," Levy said, as she read,"It says 'Whomever finds this game shall face Change in all his madness'." Lucy noticed that the writing was in a weird, curved style, and were superimposed over twisted symbols that almost looked like warped feathers.

"Since when is change a 'he'?" Lisanna asked.

"There's more," Levy said, "'And Change shall give them a world of despair and terror, to either build upon, or crush'." Mavis looked over Levy's other shoulder, frowning.

"I don't like these symbols," she said, "They have dark air to them."

"Its just a game, First Master," Erza said, as she picked up the dice and tossed them to herself, "Now, let's play." With that, she rolled both dice in demonstration; both of them landed on ones.

"Damn, that's a bad roll," Cana said, leaning over, "Good thing…" Then both of the dots on the dice began to glow a deep blue.

"Why the hell are the dice glowing?" Bixlow asked.

"Is this part of the game?" Natsu asked. He got his answer, when the dice suddenly let out a massive ripple of magic, which knocked everyone offer their feet. The energy rippled then immediately collapsed back into itself, creating a massive blue vortex over the board. Erza, being the closest, was immediately sucked in, vanishing. Gray and Juvia followed sooner after, until eventually, everyone in the room save for Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. Natsu was holding onto Lucy's hand, and Happy onto Natsu's leg.

"Hold on!" Natsu cried to Lucy.

"I can't do anything else!" Lucy responded, " _You_ just have to hold on!" Natsu was definitely intending on doing that, but right then, the post he was holding onto broke, and the three were sent tumbling into the vortex.

Right then, the noise suddenly cut off, as the room was now empty, save for a few stray models, and a pair of dice on snake eyes.

 **Note: This is a passion project, put simply. I've been playing tons of TW: Warhammer lately, so I've got Warhammer Fantasy on the mind. I'm going to be playing somewhat loosely with the Warhammer-verse and the characters, for the sake of concision, and not making this story too much of a downer. While it is a Warhammer crossover story, its still a Fairy Tail story as well, so it requires equal parts of both.**

 **The introduction was exactly that, just an introduction. The story will definitely kick off in the next chapter.**

 **While I've never played the tabletop game, I've logged over 100 hours with the Total War game, and I've read a lot of the lore. So I'm going to be basing the verse on all that collective info.**

 **In terms of time, this story takes place roughly the same time as the Christmas omake, so its after the second time-skip.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	2. Lucy I

_**Lucy I**_

Lucy was woken up by a strange tickling sensation on her nose. When she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with a very large snake. One can guess her reaction.

"KYAAH!" she cried, as she instinctively pushed herself back, which caused her to fall off what felt like bundle of branches she had landed on it. She just barely made herself grab onto another branch to prevent her from tumbling to the ground.

"What the…" The blonde looked around, noticing she was in the middle of a massive jungle.

"Where the hell am I?" she asked out loud, as if hoping that someone would pop out of nowhere and answer. Lucy looked around, and then down, finding she couldn't see the forest floor through the foliage. With a grunt, she managed to stand up, balancing herself against the trunk.

"NATSU! HAPPY!" she called, "ANYBODY!" At first she didn't here anything in response, but then she heard a distant sound, that sounded disturbingly close to a roar. Needless to say, it was comforting when she found she still had her keys; at least she could defend herself if she need to. Not wanting to stay here obviously, Lucy considered her options. She had absolutely no idea where she was, and didn't have much in the way of survival skills. Though the one thing she did know was that she needed to find a source of freshwater, but that would mean having to go down to the ground, which she wasn't sure she wanted to do.

Eventually, the part of her that wanted to go to the ground won out, and she gradually shimmied down to the ground. As she got closer and closer, it grew darker and darker, until she got to the ground, where it was like night. What little light there was being filtered through the cracks in the trees, creating just enough for Lucy to see what was in front of her, but not much else. She quickly decided she didn't like this place, considering all the weird sounds that echoed through the jungle.

"Sure," she grumbled, as she began moving forward, "I get pulled through a rip and space and time, and of course I end up in the jungle. I couldn't have ended up on a nice beach, or some kind of enchanted forest." As she pushed her way through the foliage, she let out a slight squeak, as she noticed her skirt had been ripped.

"Ahhh," she groaned, as she looked down at the rip, "This was a really good skirt." As she wasn't looking where she walking, she bumped into a tree.

"Ow," she groaned, rubbing her head, "Stupid tree." In a moment of childishness, she swatted the trunk. Then the trunk moved. Lucy looked up, and noticed that the "trunk", was a massive, scaled leg. Imagine Lucy's surprise, as the monstrous creature, whatever it was, looked down at her. All the blonde could do was scream, as she instinctively leapt back, causing her to fall into a fern. Then, another snake dropped down, landing on her chest, causing Lucy to scream again.

"What the hell is this place!" the blonde screamed, as she bolted through the jungle, in no direction in particular. Unknown to the frantic Celestial Spirit Mage, slitted eyes were watching from the trees, and the strange newcomer.

Eventually, after what felt like miles, Lucy calmed down, and stopped running. Putting her hands on her knees as she panted, Lucy tried to clear her head, and get her bearings. She didn't know where she was, she was alone, and stuck in a jungle filled with giant reptiles.

"Okay Lucy," the blonde said, "You've gotten out of worst situations. Just keep your head."

" _Tresspasser."_

"Yes, just keep your head and….," Lucy promptly yelped, jumping a good six feet into the air, "Who said that?" Hissing voices echoed from the trees, and despite the steaming heat of the jungle, a chill went up Lucy's spine.

" _Trespasser…. Trespasser… Trespasser…"_ Lucy looked around, not seeing anything in the dark trees.

"I'm trying to leave," Lucy said, "I'm not looking for trouble."

" _Why are you here, human?"_ one of the voices asked.

"I'm… honestly not sure. All I remember was being sucked into some magic vortex, and next thing I knew, I was here." Lucy could here some whispering though the trees, but she couldn't discern it.

" _Where do you come from?"_ the same voice asked.

"Magnolia, in the Kingdom of Fiore."

" _Fiore… Fiore… Fiore…"_

" _We do not know such a kingdom,"_ a voice that sounded somewhat different asked. Lucy supposed she shouldn't be surprised by such a thing, since it wasn't like everyone knew every country on Earthland.

" _This human is a liar!"_ a third voice snapped _, "She must be from one of those Chaos tribes! Kill her now!"_ Lucy, instinctively, put her hand on her keys, and this didn't apparently go unnoticed by whoever was watching her.

" _Strange magic… Strange magic… Strange magic…"_

" _What kind of magic is this?"_ Lucy, figuring that this kind of leverage was better than nothing, so she pulled out of oner her keys, as it started glowing.

"Again, I'm not looking for trouble," she said, "But I am willing to fight if it comes to that." There was a period of silence, before a series of whispers began echoing around the trees again. For a time, Lucy thought her bluff had worked, but she was quickly proven wrong, when a lizard the size of a person dropped down from the trees.

This time Lucy didn't scream, mostly because she was too shocked to do anything. The lizard had a thin appearance, with deep blue scales. Atop its head was a bright red crest, and it was dressed in a bright red loincloth, with golden bands around its arm, and a necklace with a series of golden trinkets. It ad large, reptilian eyes, that were aware, and calculating.

"What… what are you?" Lucy murmured. The lizard was silent for a time, looking Lucy over.

"Your magical aura is abnormal," he (Lucy assumed it was a he) said, "But it does not seem akin to Chaos."

"Okay, I admit it, my guild can be a tad rambunctious, but I wouldn't call it chaotic," Lucy said.

" _Do not trust the human!"_ a new voice called.

" _Kill it!"_

" _Kill it now!"_ Lucy cringe, as she got ready to fight. One of her spirits coupled with Star Dress should be able to take these reptiles on, but that would only be a temporary solution; besides, there were probably more of them throughout the jungle, and they probably knew that jungle much better than she did. The lizard in front of Lucy held up his claw, silencing the voices.

"Very few warmbloods have made it this deep into the trees," he said, "Considering that, and the magic she holds, this requires more wizened hands. We shall bring her before the Slann; they shall decide her fate." The lizard then looked to Lucy.

"You can either follow us, or we will forcibly take you," he hissed. Lucy briefly wondered if that was a good idea, but she came back to the notion that fighting her way out probably wouldn't have positive consequences.

"Alright," she finally said, "I'll come with you, but I need to know what and who you are, and where I am." The lizard looked Lucy over, before flicking its wrist. Six more lizards dropped in, otherwise identical to the apparent leader, though they all had smaller crests, which weren't red.

"Very well then," he said, "You are in jungles of Lustria, and we are the Lizardmen." Lucy quickly decided that she didn't like the sound of that.

 **Note: Sorry this was so short, but I wanted to quickly establish where Lucy is, so that we can get on with the story.**

 **So Lucy's ended up amongst the Lizardmen. I actually went through several potential locations for Lucy to be sent to, but ultimately decided on this one mostly for just the situations it would put our favorite Celestial Spirit Mage in.**

 **It was admittedly rather quick for the skinks to find Lucy, but based on lore I've read, it seems that nothing happens in the jungles without the Lizardmen knowing it. To that end, I doubt that its a leap to say that they wouldn't have any trouble finding her, especially considering that she ended up in Lustria via magical means.**

 **Please review.**


	3. Natsu I

_**Natsu I**_

"Lucy!" Natsu cried, as he suddenly sat up. However, when he looked around, he noticed he wasn't in the guild. Immediately, he looked down, and noticed that Happy was still clinging to his leg; that much gave Natsu some relief, but it was quickly gone as he thought about Lucy, and the rest of his guild.

The Dragon Slayer surveyed his surroundings. While he wasn't exactly the best judge of stuff like this, he had to admit this land was pretty. There were green fields across the land, with snow caped mountains with forests along the slope on the horizon.

"Uhhh…." Natsu looked down, to noticed Happy stirring, rubbing his eyes.

"Natsu?" the exceed asked, looking up at his partner.

"Hey, little buddy," Natsu said, rubbing Happy's head, "You okay?"

"I think so," Happy said, as he stood himself up, "Where are we?"

"No, clue," Natsu answered, as he did the same, rubbing the back of his neck, "Though this place smells really weird." Happy nervously fluttered onto Natsu's shoulder.

"I'm scared, Natsu," he said, wrapping his tail around Natsu's neck.

"Don't worry, Happy," Natsu said, with a grin, "We'll figure this all out. Let's look around and see where we are." He then struck out into the wilderness, figuring that they were bound to run into some people if they kept walking.

"This place feels weird," Happy said, never moving from his place on Natsu's shoulder, "Like there's magic in the air." The Dragon Slayer nodded in agreement, if anything, it was an understatement. It was like there was magic all around him, on his very skin. For a long time (or at least what felt like a long time), they kept walking, until Happy's suddenly got off Natsu's shoulder.

"Look!" he said, pointing. Natsu looked in the direction Happy as pointing. In the distance, was a small cottage, with what looked like a field of crops.

"See, Happy!" Natsu said, "I told you we'd figure this out!"

"But we haven't figured out anything yet," Happy said, deadpan. Ignoring that, Natsu hurried towards the house, with Happy flying after him. However, as they got closer the house, Happy suddenly grabbed Natsu's scarf, stopping him.

"What was that for?" Natsu asked. Happy just pointed, and that was when Natsu noticed a tall figure, kicked back on a chair, feet propped up on a log. He was wearing a hood, and appeared to be sleeping, and a pole of some sorts was stuck in the ground next to him. Natsu figured that was the farmer.

"Great, a person," Natsu said with a grin, "Let's go talk to him!" He then started running faster towards the house.

"Wait Natsu!" Happy called, as he flew after his partner. Eventually the came close to the farm, and Nat's waved.

"Hey…" He couldn't finish, as in a flash, he had a blade at his throat. As it turned out, the pole in the ground was a glaive. Natsu could now see the person's face through the hood; his features were pointed, with piercing eyes.

"I don't know how you got this far, raider," the farmer said, "But you aren't going any farther."

"Raider?" Natsu asked, holding up his hands, "What are you talking about?" Perhaps Lucy was rubbing off on him, but Natsu didn't want to hurt a farmer for no reason. Though said farmer just glared at him.

"You think I'm a fool?" the farmer hissed, "You want me to believe you're a trader? When you're this far inland?"

"You crazy?" Natsu snapped, "You think I'm some kind of pirate?!" Alright, this guy was starting to piss him off.

"Pink hair," the farmer said, looking Natsu over, "Is that some blessing from Tzeentch?"

"Hey, don't, diss my hair!"

"A blue, flying cat that can talk?" the farmer said, "If that's not proof of Chaos…"

"Leave Happy alone!" Natsu said, as he finally pushed his opponent away, who flipped back. He then held his glaive at the ready. But he didn't strike, instead, he looked very carefully at the Dragon Slayer, narrowing his eyes.

"You're aura… its strange," he said, "If you are not a Chaos raider, than where are you rom?"

"I'm from Fairy Tail!" Natsu said, showing off his guild mark, while Happy did the same.

"I do not know of such a place, nor do I know of such a mark," the farmer said. That surprised Natsu; just about everyone knew about Fairy Tail, seeing as the guild's members generally made sure of it (sometimes unintentionally, but it wasn't Natsu's fault when a fire spread).

"How could you not know about Fairy Tail? Its the strongest guild in Fiore!" Happy declared.

"I do not know this 'Fiore', you speak of," the farmer said, not changing his stance, "Is it one of those petty human states on the coast?"

"Well… Fiore is on the ocean," Natsu said, after a pause, "But its pretty big." That apparently got the farmer to lower his guard slightly, as he apparently was finally convinced that Natsu wasn't a raider, but he still held onto his weapon. The farmer than lowered his hood, showing off long, light blonde hair, that was combed back. But what _really_ earned Natsu's attention were his ears, which were larger than normal, and more importantly, pointed. He was like one of those elves from a book he once read over Lucy's shoulder. That weirded Natsu out somewhat.

"What?" the farmer said, "Never seen an elf before?" He then paused.

"Well, I suppose few humans really do see elves these days, and live to tell the tale."

"What's an elf?" Happy asked, which must have been a dumb question, as the elf shot him a glare.

"If you do not know, then you are truly ignorant," he said, "But it doesn't matter, you said this 'Fairy Tail' of your's is a guild, yes?"

"Yeah, its a mage guild," Natsu said. That seemed to surprise his opponent, who blinked, and took a step back.

"Well, that should explain your aura," he said.

"What, do you not have mages here?" Happy asked.

"We have _wizards_."

"Same thing." The elf just waved him off.

"Here in Ulthuan, all wizards serve the nobility," he explained, "We do not keep such skilled individuals in guild halls." Natsu cocked his head.

"What's Ulthuan?" The elf looked decisively insulted by that.

"I can accept the fact that you've never seen an elf, but you mean to tell me you have never head of Ten Kingdoms of Ulthuan?"

"How can you have ten kingdoms?" Natsu asked. The elf opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, as he rubbed his temples.

"Look, why don't you just leave?" he asked.

"I can't," Natsu said, "I don't know where I am."

"Which is no concern of mine," the elf answered, before heading over to a bag of grain that was propped against his cabin, "I have to bring this crop into the city anyway, so just leave."

"Why don't we come with you?" Natsu suggested.

"Yeah, we have to get into the city too!" Happy chimed in. The elf looked severely annoyed by that suggestion, but then paused to think.

"Well, it might make you leave quicker," he mused slightly, before continuing, "So fine, you can follow me."

"Thanks Mr. Elf!" Happy said, pumping his paw.

"I have a name, its Nelaryn."

"Well then, my name's Natsu, and this is Happy. Nice to meet you!" Natsu declared with his trademark, shit-eating grin.

"Feelings not mutual human," the elf sneered, "Now come, I want to get this over with." Natsu's grin collapsed.

"He's a jerk," Happy grumbled. Natsu agreed, as he followed his new "companion".

 **Note: So Natsu's with the High Elves. Originally, I was planning on putting Natsu with the Lizardmen, but then I remembered the bond that the High Elves had with dragons, and it quickly became a no brainer. And while I won't give anything away, I will say that Natsu's presence on Ulthuan will have some pretty profound consequences.**

 **Something I should quickly make known, is that I'm using the 8th Edition as a point of reference in terms of lore. I'm saying that, because while the edition aren't** _ **that**_ **different, there are some important differences that will come into play. In addition, I'll be using aspects taken from the Total War game (which you should** _ **definitely**_ **get and support, if you're a fan of strategy games).**

 **Please review. I bet a number of authors would agree with me when I say its one of the biggest rewards of writing a story.**


	4. Erza I

_**Erza I**_

When Erza regained consciousness, she certainly wasn't in the guild anymore. Much to the contrary, she was in what looked like a field. Jumping to her feet, she looked around her. This didn't look like any land she knew, since it certainly didn't look like Fiore.

Getting to her feet, she scanned the area. She was surrounded by lush meadows as far as she could see, with rolling hills in the distance. Since those hills were the highest points she could see, she headed over to those.

Once she got to the top of the hill, she got a look at her surroundings. She noticed even more rolling meadows, which didn't give Erza any real indication as to where she was. However, one thing she did notice was what looked like a road carving through the land.

"Well, its better than nothing," she said out loud, before heading down to it. However, when she got to it, it seemed that this "road", wasn't so much that, as it was a beaten trail. If anything, Erza had seen mountain trails in better condition than this. After some time of walking, she came upon a small stream, which she promptly took a drink from. Savoring the cool liquid running down her throat, she only just managed to notice something floating down the river. Quickly collecting it, the knight found that it was a rag doll. Deducing it came from upstream, Erza decided to make it her mission to return it, if only to help a sad little girl, and hopefully find some people.

Traveling up the river seemed quicker than traveling by road, possibly because she wasn't crossing over the hills while doing it. Eventually, she saw in the distance, what looked like a watermill. Smiling at the sight of civilization, she hurried up the stream. However, as she got closer, she noticed that the mill seemed to be a state of disrepair, and was only just in working condition. Erza wondered if this was the doll came from, but honestly couldn't imagine someone living in such a place. She was also happy to see a woman outside of the cabin, in front of a water basin, apparently washing clothes.

"Hello!" Erza called, waving. The woman looked up, and after a moment, she smiled.

"Greetings my Lady," she said, standing up, "What brings you to these parts?" Erza briefly looked over the woman. She looked to be in her thirties, and would've been pretty, if not for how dirty she was. Her clothes weren't so much "clothes", as they were rags stitched together. Her hair was under a wrapping, though a few brown locks emerged from under it.

"Its a long story," Erza said with a smile, "But wandering is what brought me here." The woman looked over Erza for a time.

"That armor certainly isn't Bretonnian, are you from the Empire?" she asked. Erza wasn't sure what she meant. She'd never heard of "Bretonnia", and Erza didn't know of any countries in Ishgar that took the title of "Empire". Perhaps the vortex spat her out on an entirely different continent.

"So where are you from?" the woman asked.

"I'm from Fiore," Erza answered.

"Is that one of those coastal cities to the South?" the woman asked, cocking her head. Erza considered her next words; she didn't want to reveal the truth about where she was from just yet.

"Well, again its a long story," Erza said, and fortunately, the woman ended it there, and Erza decided to ask the all important question, "Where exactly am I?" The woman looked at her surprise at such a question, but answered it nonetheless.

"You are in the Kingdom of Bretonnia, my dear," she said, "More specifically the Dukedom of Brionne, though please do not make me recite the rest of the nobility."

"No need," Erza said, holding up her hand with a smile, "I'm just glad to finally know where I am." That was when she remembered part of what brought her here.

"If it means anything, I was up the river earlier, and I found this doll," she said, holding up the toy, "Does this mean anything to you?" The woman balked in surprise at the sight of the doll.

"By the gods," she said, "Ada was so upset after she lost it. Ada!" After she called, a little girl maybe around seven or eight came out of the cottage. She had similar brown hair to whom Erza assumed was her mother.

"Yes, Mama?" she asked.

"Look what this kind lady found," the mother said. The girl looked, as Erza held out the doll.

"Ms. Pretty!" the girl said happily, as she took the doll and hugged it.

"She was hysterical without that doll," the mother said with a smile, "Thank you."

"Its my pleasure. My name is Erza"

"My name is Fleur," the woman answered, "And this is Ada."

"Pleased to meet you both," Erza said, smiling back, "Now I should probably stop bothering you, and be on my way. If you could maybe point me in the direction of the nearest town?"

"Nonsense," Fleur said, "You deserve some proper gratitude. Come join us for supper. Jaune!" A man with short blonde hair and a close cropped beard came out of the mill wiping his brow.

"Yes?" he asked, before noticing Erza and smiling, "Who is this fine young maiden?"

"My name is Erza Scarlet," Erza said, "And I'm just a traveler."

"Look Papa!" Ada said, running up to her father, "She rescued Mrs. Pretty!" Jaune chuckled at that, before smiling back at Erza.

"Got to show our gratitude there," he said, "Please." Erza was then lead into the cottage, which was small and dirty, but homely in its own way. Erza was sat down at a table in the center, as she watched Fleur prepare whatever they were eating, until the wife called her family over to the table, as they all sat down. Erza, while not surprised, didn't expect to see such a measly meal, only really consisting of some bread, and a little bit of meat.

"Yummy!" Ada said, as she sat down, and reached for the food.

"Now, now!" Jaune said, "We have to say our prayers first." With that, the family all folded their hands in prayer, as Erza remained quiet out of respect. Jaune muttered a few prayers to some gods that Erza didn't know, and once he was done, they started eating.

"You said you weren't a soldier, right?" Fleur asked, "But I take it from your armor that you're some kind of warrior."

"That is right."

"So, are you a mercenary?" Erza opened her mouth, then closed it again. While most guild mages resented being called that, that was what they essentially were.

"Something like that," she answered, "I'm a member of a guild." She decided not to mention that it was a mage guild for now.

"Well, we have to go to the castle later to deliver our harvest," Jaune said, "There's a small town around the castle; you can maybe get some work there."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Erza said, smiling. She had to admit, she was grateful she ended up in a place that seemed relatively nice.

 **Note: Bretonnia was probably the easiest one to decide on. What better place for a knight to end up, than a country that prides itself on its knights? Even though said knights act in defiance of anything that could be considered chivalric. I think Erza could do this place a load of good.**

 **Something to take note of, these introduction chapters are happening simultaneously; in other words, in universe, they're happening at the same time, not one after another. Also, if I can, I'm not going to do all these introduction chapters one after another, since there are a dozen of people here, and it would take forever. I might briefly pause the introductions, to do something with Natsu, Lucy, or Erza again.**

 **Be sure to review.**


	5. Wendy I

_**Wendy I**_

"Wendy! Wendy! Wake up!" The Sky Dragon Slayer stirred, as she sat up, and opened her eyes. She noticed that it was Carla who had been calling her name.

"Carla," she said softly, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Carla answered, rubbing her head with her paw, "All I remember is being sucked into the vortex. I just woke up, myself." Shaking her head slightly, trying to clear it, Wendy looked around. She immediately noticed that she was in the middle of a forest, a very big forest from the looks of it, and it was certainly quite a forest at that. The trees were massive, and tick, and yet light seemed to have no trouble filtering through.

"Where are we?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know," Carla answered, "This doesn't look like any forest we've ever seen."

"This place smells and feels strange," Wendy said, as she looked around, "We shouldn't stay here." She then quickly leapt to her feet.

"Let's go!" she said, "And so we don't get lost…." She then use her magic to leave a gash through one of the trees. Just in case, Carla took her human form, and the partners started moving out. As they were running through the trees, Carla looked around.

"This forest has a strange air to it," Carla said, "Its thick with magic, strange magic at that."

"Yeah, its like nothing I've ever felt before," Wendy said, "Though it feels primal. Sort of like…" She froze, as she heard of what sounded like groaning and creaking from deep within the forest.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Carla said, "It was coming from the trees. We have to keep going, we don't know what else is lurking in this… forest." The two stopped, as they noticed a tree up ahead, with a long gash going through its trunk.

"We went in a circle!" Carla said frustratedly.

"But we only ran straight," Wendy said, "How could've we gone in a circle?"

"Its this place," Carla muttered, glaring at the trees

"I don't know," Carla answered, "But we won't be getting anything out of just running around. I'll fly up and…" However, she was cut out when Wendy suddenly held up her hand, sniffing the air.

"What is it?" Carla asked.

"I can smell something," Wendy said, "Something like…" She couldn't finish though, as from the trees, burst a form. The duo dove out of the way as the form flashed past them. When they looked up, they noticed the form was that of a massive stag. It had antlers as long as a man, and had a noble, regal look to it, but what really got the girls' eyes was the figure riding it.

The figure's head was concealed by a large helmet, showing only a pair of piercing green eyes. Framing the helm were a pair of what looked like antlers. Long green hair fell from the helmet, and he was dressed in relatively simple armor. In one hand was a large lance, and in the other was a green-painted shield.

"Trespassers in heart of Athel Loren!" the figure hissed, pointing the tip at Wendy and Carla. The two were momentarily too surprised to do anything in response.

"We're lost," Wendy finally said, "We don't mean you any harm."

"A likely story," the figure responded, not putting the lance down, "Again, identify yourselves."

"My name is Wendy Marvell," the Dragon Slayer finally said, "And this is Carla."

"And we're more than happy to leave," Carla said, as she tensed herself up, "If you can just show us the way out." While no one could see the figure's face under the helmet, Wendy's keen eyes could see his grip on his lance tighten.

"The law is clear," he said, "You entered into our realm with out permission. For that, you must die

"So you're willing to kill us just for trespassing?" Carla demanded, "Rather than just sending us away?"

"This is the law set in by Queen Ariel," the figure said, "Athel Loren will not suffer the presence of any trespasser, child or not. If any soul steps upon our sacred soil, they shall not take another." With that, Wendy and Carla got ready to fight, as the figure got ready to fight, before freezing, as he suddenly looked back into the woods. Wendy, on reflex, looked into the woods as well. That was when she picked up a very, very bad scent, which was followed by an equally bad sound and sight.

With a roar, a completely new form exploded from the trees. The girls and the stag managed to get out of the way, but the rider was knocked from his steed. Wendy then noticed that the form was that of a hulking creature, that looked literally like someone had smashed a bull and a man together. Wendy quickly recognized it as a minotaur, holding a massive axe.

The minotaur's attention was primarily on the rider, who quickly got to his feet, and moved to hold up his shield and lance. However, the minotaur moved too fast, and knocked the shield and axe from the rider's arms. The rider moved to pull out a blade on his hip, but the minotaur then head butted him, sending him crashing into a tree. The minotaur then quickly came to finish the job, and Wendy's morality kicked in right then, and she leapt forward.

"Wendy!" Carla cried.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy let loose her signature attack on the minotaur, who was caught off guard. For a time, it tried to resist against the wind, but eventually as overpowered, and sent careening away, crashing through several trees, and disappearing back into the forest. Wendy let out a gasp, quickly consuming some air to regain some strength. She then looked towards the rider, who was pulling himself weakly up the tree. As he did, he pulled off his helmet, revealing a youthful face, with black warpaint on his cheeks and eyes. But what really set him apart were the pointed ears.

"What is he?" Carla asked, as she came up next to her partner.

"He's an elf," Wendy said softly.

"What am I?" the rider said, as he looked at Wendy in bewilderment, "What in the name of Kurunos are you?" As he talked, he hacked up some blood.

"You're wounded," Wendy noted.

"Wendy, we have to go!" Carla said, "That thing could be coming back!" Wendy looked at her friend, before looking back towards the elf, as he tried to stand up, only to slip back down with a grunt.

"We can't leave him."

"Wendy!" Carla scolded, "Are you forgetting just a few minutes ago he was planning on killing us." But Wendy didn't answer, as she approached the elf, who tried to move back against the tree. Right then, the stag that he had been riding appeared again, and positioned himself between his master and the Dragon Slayer, its antlers lowered in defense.

"I'm not going to hurt him," Wendy said, holding up her hands, which lit up, "I just want to help him." The stag maintained its position, as it snorted. But Wendy just looked at it with her kind eyes, and it lifted its head slightly, before finally stepping away. The elf was understandably shocked, but when Wendy's glowing hands went over his chest, a cool, comforting sensation came over his body.

"What magic is this?"

"I'm healing you," Wendy answered softly, "Just stay still."

"Why?" the rider asked, more than a little surprised by the gesture, "You're friend was right."

"You were just protecting your home," Wendy answered, not looking him in the eye, "And if that monster is any indication of what trespassers are like, I guess I can understand why you'd be rather 'suspicious'."

"That's a way of putting it," Carla grumbled. The elf just stared at Wendy for a time, before taking a breath, and laying his head back.

"You said your names are Wendy and Carla, yes? Well my name is Asarith. I am a Wild Rider of the great King Orion."

"Nice to meet you," Wendy said with a smile, which Asarith didn't return, looking at her carefully. That was when they heard the sound of a roar, and something crashing through the brush. Asarith narrowed his eyes.

"The minotaur is coming back," he stated, "And I'm in no condition to slay it." He then grabbed something up his belt.

"You, the girl with the cat ears," he called. Carla looked up just in time to catch something, which she saw was some kind of horn.

"Blow it," Asarith instructed, "We are going to need help." Carla looked at the horn, and then at Wendy who nodded. After a moment's hesitation, Carla blew. The sound was unlike any horn the girls' had heard before; it was eerie, and almost otherworldly. Another, similar horn sounded from the distance soon after.

"Good, they'll be here momentarily," Asarith said.

"I don't think 'momentarily' is going to be quick enough," Carla said, as she looked into the trees. Not long after she said that, the minotaur burst out of the trees. It was cut up some from Wendy's roar, and its eyes had nothing but rage in them. Now his attention was only on Wendy.

"I can't stop healing him now," Wendy said, but she also didn't know if Carla could hold it.

"Just keep going," Carla said, as she got in between Wendy and the beast, "I'll hold it off."

"You aren't strong enough to take on a minotaur!" Asarith said, as he tried to get up, only for Wendy to push him back down, and order him to stay still. The minotaur stared Carla down, digging its hooves into the ground, while snorting and growling. Carla held her ground, taking her battle stance, while Wendy got ready to join the fight at any given time, and even Asarith instinctively put his hand around his blade. Right then, the minotaur roared, braced itself, took a single step forward, and…. let out another, more pained roar, before collapsing to the ground, dead.

"What the…," Wendy and Carla said together. But Wendy could Asarith let out a sigh of relief, and when she looked at the minotaur, she noticed a massive spear, longer than the minotaur was tall, coming out of its back.

"That spear, where did it come from?" Wendy asked. But Asarith didn't need to answer, as several of the same stags that he had ridden in on emerged from the trees. They were all wearing the same armor, and had the same weapons that he did as well. Asarith, now well enough to stand, got up, and approached his comrades, before falling to one knee. It didn't take long for Wendy and Carla to realize who he was bowing to, as a completely new being approached.

This being was downright massive, up to ten feet tall, with massive muscles criss-crossed by green veins. He was cleanly shaven, and his green eyes were large and wild. From the knees down, his legs were covered in fur, ending with deer-like hooves, and to top it all off there was great pair of antlers were atop his head. At his heels were five, brilliant white hounds, with glowing red eyes. Wendy and Carla were unable to move, as they stared in amazement at the great figure.

"My lord Orion," Asarith said in deference. The being didn't answer, as he calmly walked past the girls, coming up to the dead minotaur.

"Stinking creature," he grumbled, as he put his hoof on the minotaur's body, and yanked the spear out. That was when this "Orion" finally looked at the girls.

"What is this?" he demanded, gesturing with his spear.

"Trespassers!" another rider snapped, "Slay them now." But Orion held up his hand, and he was silenced.

"My name is Wendy Marvell," Wendy said, as she approached, "And this is Carla." Both of them had the decency to curtsey before the one they remembered Asarith said was king.

"My lord," Asarith said, "These two saved my life."

"Did they now?" Orion said, arching an eyebrow, while still looking at the girls. Up close, his aura was smothering.

"And how did these two children manage to be so successful against a minotaur?"

"I'm not sure how it is, but the girl's aura, is that of a dragon," Asarith said. The other riders gasped at that.

"That's not possible," one said.

"And yet one stands before us as we speak," Orion said, putting his spear of his shoulder. He looked carefully at Wendy, apparently sensing her aura as well.

"But how is it possible?" he asked. Wendy contemplated what she was going to say, especially since she had a feeling he'd know if she was lying.

"I was raised by a dragon," she said, "The Sky Dragon, Grandeeney."

"I do not know such a dragon," Orion said. Wendy was surprised by that; he was almost talking like he knew other dragons personally, which shouldn't have been possible, right?

"But I cannot deny your aura is strange," he said, "And you were both able to survive an encounter with a minotaur, so this warrants investigation." He then reached onto his hip waist, which had a horn like Asarith's on it, only this one was much bigger. Orion then blew into it, sending the sound echoing across the trees. The elves all seemed to know what it meant, as Wendy saw Asarith put his helmet back on, gather his weapons, and climb onto his stag.

"Wait, what are…." Wendy couldn't finish, as she and Carla were both suddenly grabbed by the riders, as the stags all bounded into the trees, with Orion and his hounds at the front.

 **Note: Putting with Wendy and Carla with the Wood Elves was due to the relatively basic reason of Wendy going to a place that was decisively more based in nature, opposed to the more materialistic places in the rest of the world. Now, anyone familiar with Warhammer lore, would know that the Wood Elves DO NOT tolerate trespassing in Athel Loren; going into the Deepwood without an invitation, is essentially a death sentence. So I knew I would have to do something with Wendy to prove herself, and that brings us to where we are.**

 **I'm basing the various Wood Elf design off the TW design, including Orion's own design. Try looking up the Total War Youtube channel, and check out their Wood Elf videos to get a grasp on their designs.**

 **On an unrelated note, considering what Carla and Pantherlily can do in canon, I'm going to give Happy something more to him in this story. Though I dare not tell you what it is right now.**

 **Please review.**


	6. Cana I

_**Cana I**_

The first thing Cana felt before waking up was a very pleasant warmth, like she was next to a hearth. The next thing she felt was something soft, and that was what ultimately woke her up. The mage opened her eyes to see a stone ceiling, and when she sat up, and looked around, she saw she was in a small room, lying on a bed just large enough to fit her (insofar that if Cana were slightly taller, her feet would dangle off). The room was homely, filled with small chairs and desks, with a fire pit off to the side.

"Rest, my dear, you are still weak." Cana turned, to see a woman coming through a door, towards her, but she was unlike any woman Cana had ever seen. It wasn't that she was short, it was that she was also very stocky, with a large nose, and hard features.

"Where am I?" Cana asked, looking around.

"In our house, where else?" the woman answered, as she adjusted what Cana assumed was a teapot.

"'Our' house?"

"My husband, Gorik, and I," the woman elaborated, "My name is Gunti."

"Cana," Cana introduced, "How'd I get here?"

"I was hoping you could tell us," Gunti answered, as she poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Cana, "Gorik was scouting out the mountain top, when he found you half buried in snow. Its a miracle you didn't freeze." Cana rubbed her aching head; all she really remembered was being sucked into the vortex in Fairy Tail, and that was it.

"I really don't know," she finally answered.

"Can you at least tell me where you're from?"

"Magnolia," Cana answered easily. The woman blinked, apparently not recognizing it.

"In Fiore."

"Is that in the Empire?" Gunti asked.

"The 'Empire'?" Cana asked, cocking her head curiously.

"You mean to tell me you know not of the Empire?" Gunti said with surprise, "Are you not a human?"

Last I checked," Cana asked, as she lifted herself out of bed. As she did, the door opened, and a man came in. He had the same short, stocky build as the woman, but what distinguished him was the massive beard he had. It was neatly kept, and fell down to his chest. Cana imagined this was Gorik.

"How is our guest?" he asked.

"Better," Cana answered, as she slowly stood up, nearly bumping her head on the ceiling as she did, "I owe you my ass." Gorik chuckled at that.

"Imagine my surprise, as I was flying over in my gyrocopter and saw a young human woman sprawled on the mountain top," he said.

"And not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I need to find my friends," Cana said, "Was there anyone else you found with me?"

"I'm afraid not," Gorik answered, "You were alone." Cana cringed at that.

"Where exactly is this place?" she asked.

"Zhufbar," Gorik answered proudly. Cana had never heard of such a place, but considering how proud these two were apparently were of this place, she decided not to say it out loud.

"How about you show her around, Gorik," Gunti suggested, "Perhaps she can figure out what to do if she knows more about where she is."

"Fantastic idea," Gorik answered, before asking Cana, "Would you be willing?"

"I guess so," Cana answered with a shrug. With that, Gorik lead her out, into the streets; though it wasn't really outside, as Cana soon found out. Rather, she saw that they were in a massive cave, with a ceiling so high Cana thought she could see clouds.

"You're not hallucinating," Gorik said, "You are in a mountain. And those clouds are from the great forges."

"So its smoke?" Cana asked, "Is that healthy?"

"We dwarfs have withstood much worse than a smokey room," Gorik said, waving his hand dismissively, "Besides, if you cannot take a little smoke, than you can certainly not handle this world." Cana hesitated to call this "a little smoke", but she figured that if it was a problem, people probably wouldn't be here now, and considering how old this placed looked to be, these dwarfs must have been here for a long time.

"Well, this is all amazing, really," she said, "But I really need to find my guild mates."

"Ah, you're in a guild," Gorik said, with a smile, "What kind?"

"Um, a mage guild." The dwarf cocked his head curiously at that.

"First I've heard of a mage guild," he said, "Didn't realize humans have those."

"Uh, yeah we do," Cana said, "Where I'm from we've got tons of mage guilds."

"Now there's an image," Gorik said, with a longing smile, "Pity that we dwarfs have no mages to enlist in our guilds." Cana tried not to judge, since it wasn't like every race could use magic as far as she knew.

"Do you maybe have a map I could use?" Cana asked, "I need to start looking for my friends. They could be danger." Gorik made a face under his beard.

"You may not want to leave right now," he said.

"What?"

"The gates of Zufbar are currently closed, with the vampires out and about," Gorik explained, "Their corruption can seep in like…"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Cana said, waving her hands, "You said 'vampires', right?" She'd heard of vampires yes, and admittedly read some pretty crappy romance novels featuring them. But as far she knew, vampires were still just fictional; though the master once told her that vampires did at one point exist, but had since been wiped out.

"Of course. In fact, I first thought you were one when I found you, before I noticed you were warm to the touch." Cana rubbed her head. It had been sometime since she got any booze, and things were making too much sense without it. Vampires, dwarfs, giant industrial cities inside of caves? Of all times, she really needed some.

"Look, I could really use a drink," she said, "Do you guys have anything alcoholic at all?"

"Do we have alcohol?" Gorik asked, almost looking insulted, "My girl, for you to not drink dwarfen ale would be a sin in of itself."

"That's what I like to here," Cana said, before she was guided to what she hoped was a tavern. She wouldn't be able to find her friends in her current status.

 **Note: Cana going with the dwarfs is a given when you think about it, not much to really explain here. But Cana's presence, like other characters, will begin to have a profound effect.**

 **Depending on how things progress, next chapter may or may not be another introduction, and may instead see us continuing a character's journey.**

 **Please review.**


	7. Juvia I

_**Juvia I**_

The first thing Juvia felt, was heat. And not the pleasant kind; it was nearly burning. With a gasp, the Rain Woman sat up, and looked around, noticing vast sand dunes everywhere she looked. Her first instinct was panic, and no it wasn't because she was separated from Gray, but because she was stuck in a desert, with no idea where she was. While it took a lot for her to get dehydrated, that didn't mean that never happened to her. With that desert being too hot even for her, Juvia loosened her coat, and took off her hat.

"Of all the times to be without my prince," she moaned, as she started walking. She had no other real option at this point, except to hope she found civilization, or at least water, somewhere. After walking for some time, she hadn't seen anything by more sand. But finally, she climbed atop a sand dune, and noticed a river. On reflex, Juvia dashed down to it, but upon arriving at it, she noticed the river was murky, and dark. It didn't take a genius to realize that the river was tainted. But where there was a river, there were people, and Juvia figured that if she followed the river, she'd find someone with drinkable water.

After walking for even longer, she finally saw buildings in the distance, the beginnings of a city, and when Juvia finally arrived, she was awed by the sight of it. The city was vast, with great column and statues. Juvia had a feeling it may have been beautiful at one point, but had since fallen into ruin. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single person, just more broken structures and statues. That was when she saw the pyramid.

Being even taller than the Mercurius castle in Crocus, with an other wordly shine to them, Juvia couldn't help but be drawn to it. She wondered if it was made as a tomb, or a palace. She figured it could perhaps have been both, as she found herself drawn up stairs leading into the pyramid. Framing the entrance, were two painted statues of humanoid beings, only with the heads of animals; one with a falcon, the other with a crocodile. However, as she approached the entrance, in a flash, the statues moved, so that the spears they were holding blocked the way in.

Leaping back, Juvia looked up, to see the statue looking straight at her. That was when she felt something grab her leg; turning into water, she managed to get away, as seven figures pulled themselves out of the sand. They were emancipated, skeletal beings, wrapped partly in bandages, with hollow eye sockets. They were clad in armor, and carrying long curved blades. While the armor and blade looked old, they were not rusted, and seemed in good condition.

"Intruder in the city of the King, " one of the beings poke. Its voice was dry, and raspy. A chill ran down Juvia's spine; these beings were far too similar to Keyes from Tartaros.

"Who are you?" another one of the being's demanded, pointing its sword at the mage.

"My name is Juvia," Juvia answered, "I'm just passing through."

"A likely story. One many tomb raiders have used before."

"Juvia is not a tomb raider!" Juvia insisted.

"That's what they all say," one of the warriors sneered, though that was hard to do when one didn't have any lips. Deciding enough had been said, all seven sprung at the Rain Woman together. The first blades passed cleanly through Juvia's water body, who then splashed out of the way.

"What magic is this?" one warrior growled.

"You're no match for me," Juvia said, "Just let me go. I'll never come back again." Admittedly that was a bluff, since Juvia couldn't be sure what they were capable of, or what kinds of magic they had their disposal.

"We will not tolerate the presence of intruders in the lands of the Great Settra!"

"Settra?" Juvia asked. She hadn't meant to say that out loud, but considering how all the warriors visibly flinched, she must've said something wrong.

"You dare to tell us you do not know of Settra the Imperishable? The Great Lion of Khemri?"

"The Emperor of the Shifting Sands?"

"The Eternal Sovereign of Khemri's Legions?" As they listed more titles, Juvia tried not to roll her eyes, until they finally had enough.

"Look, I'm not from here," she said, "Don't blame me for not knowing about your country."

"It doesn't matter, trespassing in the home of Settra is a crime, and all must face justice for their crimes." Before Juvia could say anything further, the seven soldiers sprung at him immediately, swinging their swords at him. The blades passed cleanly through Juvia's water body again. However, instead of dodging, she decided it was time to fight back.

"Water Slicer!" A stream of water blades lashed out from them, though these soldiers proved more agile than they looked, managing to dodge or block most of her attacks. So with that in mind, and knowing the more she used her Water Magic, Juvia decided to take it to the next step.

"Water Nebula!" A massive stream of water formed, and washed over the soldiers. They tried to hold their ground, but the force eventually sent all the warriors careening away, slamming into the stone structures. When the water receded, they are all on the ground, not moving. Juvia let out a gasp, thankful that it was over, only to find it was far from over.

Suddenly an extremely powerful aura descended upon the area. So powerful, it rivaled the master's when he was mad. That was when Juvia saw him, as the statues knelt before the figure descending from the entrance of the pyramid. This new figure was taller than all the others. He was also dressed in armor, but his was far more intricate. A large crown was also on top of his head, and a pole with a blade on the end was in his hand, that had a golden glow emitting from the blade.

"On your feet, all of you," he ordered. Immediately, the soldiers all rose, to Juvia's horror, and they all knelt before the figure.

"By your will, King Settra!" they all said in perfect unison. Juvia looked at the being, who she now knew was Settra, the king of the country she was apparently in.

"Juvia isn't here to pick a fight," Juvia said, holding up her hands, "She was just trying to defend herself." Settra descended to the ground level, spinning his weapon through his hand as he did.

"You can summon water out of nothing," Settra noted, "Even I have never seen such power."

"Juvia is not from here."

"So I gathered," the undead being said, as he came closer to Juvia, who stepped further back. While it was impossible to tell what he was thinking from that decayed face, Juvia didn't like the way he spoke.

"This magic is interesting," Settra said, "It deserves some study."

"Juvia is not some lab rat!" the water mage answered. She had a feeling Settra would be rolling his eyes if he had any.

"You will be coming with me," he said bluntly, "Preferably by choice, since I'd rather not damage you." Juvia's response, was to take a battle stance.

"Very well, I'll oblige." Juvia acted first, sending a stream of water at him. The king easily dodged the attack, and dashed forward, swinging his glowing blade at the Rain Woman. Juvia expected it to simple phase through her as always, only for the weapon to blast her with a stream of light, sending her flying.

"Wha..," Juvia muttered, as she slowly got up.

"The Blessed Blade of Ptra can cut through anything," Settra said, holding up his weapon, "Now I give you another chance. Come with me willfully, or I'll fell you in a single strike."

"Juvia won't bend for you!"

"And neither does Settra." In an instant, he flashed over to her, and Juvia didn't even have time to hold up her arms, before a glowing fist slammed into her cut. That was the last thing Juvia remembered before she was struck unconscious.

 **Note: Juvia with the Tomb Kings happened more by process of elimination. I wanted someone to go to the Tomb Kings, and nobody really fit well, and since Juvia didn't fit well with any group really either, things just happened. I think it can lead to an interesting scenario.**

 **From the research I've done about the Tomb Kings, unlike the Vampire Counts, while their mummified Tomb Guard are strictly loyal to their sovereigns, they still have a level of free will. However, when unprepared to deal with a woman who can create massive torrents of water from her body, even the Tomb Guard would be overwhelmed. Granted, against Settra, easily in the top 5 best fighters in the Warhammer world, even Juvia might be overwhelmed. Speaking of which, it bears mentioning that while Settra was certainly a arrogant, ruthless and an all around douchebag, he was really no worse than some of the other "great" leaders of the Old World.**

 **Please review.**


	8. Mirajane I

_**Mirajane I**_

The first thing Mirajane felt was cold, and the next thing was pain. She didn't so much wake as she was awoken, when an armored foot collided with her stomach. Opening her eyes, she saw two tall figures standing over her, both men. They were dressed in black and purple armor, with tall helmets. Curved spears were in their hands, with similarly curved blades on their hips. Despite their sinister appearance, they had bizarrely fair, and smooth features, with long faces, and pointed eyes.

"On your feet human," one of them ordered, sticking the spear in Mirajane's face.

"Who are you?" Mirajane demanded, as she tried to stand up, only to find that her wrists and ankles were enchained. Looking around, she noticed that she was in a snowy, lightly forested area, that reminded Mira somewhat of Mt Hakobe.

"Never mind who we are," the other said, "Keep moving." He pointed with his spear, towards a large cart, which was being drawn by a strange, lizard-like creature on two legs.

"Where are you taking me?" Mira asked.

"That remains to be seen," one of the warriors said, "The highest bidder comes to mind." It then dawned on Mira that they were slave drivers. The first thing that came to mind, was to quickly activate her Take Over, and free herself. But she had no idea where she was, and she had a feeling she wasn't the only one who was enchained, and going to be sold. With that in mind, Mira decided to oblige her captors, and go into the cart. As she thought, when she got in, she noticed that were a number of other people in the cart, enchained. They looked much worse than Mirajane though, and they were from all ages, and they were all shivering in the cold air.

"Excuse me," Mirajane asked, whispering to the person sitting beside her.

"Hmm?" the man said. He was dressed in rags, and had an utterly defeated look on his face.

"Can you tell me where we are?" Mira asked.

"You're in a Naggaroth slave cart, where do you think you are?"

"'Naggaroth'? Where's that?"

"I don't know, I'm not map maker."

"Who're they?" Mira asked, pointing towards the front of the cart.

"They are Dark Elves."

"Dark Elves?" Mira echoed. She'd read about elves in books and fairy tales, but she always assumed they were just that, fairy tales. But considering the things she'd seen in her years in the guild, perhaps it wasn't too outrageous to think that elves existed. Looking towards the front again, she could hear the two were talking.

"That white-haired woman had a strange air about her. But she was quite beautiful."

"Its the dancing halls for her, definitely. Perhaps his Majesty, himself would find her enticing."

"We'll definitely present her to him when we get back to Naggaroth, after we've sold the rest of the haul."

"Don't forget we need to go to the docks first. I hear the raiders are bringing in a new shipment. More Bretonnians from what I've heard."

"Tch, those insects are barely capable of doing anything more working mines. We never get to haul anything of actual value."

"What're you even going to spend the money on? More alcohol? The whorehouse?" The two then laughed, causing Mira's nose to wrinkle in disgust. They were utterly despicable, but Mira would have to put up with them until they got to the docks, because if more slaves were coming in, she had to save them as well.

Soon enough, Mira could hear what sounded the like ocean in the distance, and the sound of ocean birds. Knowing that she had to act soon, Mira cracked her neck, and began to build her magic energy. A dark aura began to surround her, much to the shock of the slaves. Shortly after, the doors of the cart opened up…

In an instant, Mira assumed her Satan Soul form, and broke free of her chains. With a yell, she sprung at the guards, who didn't even have time to react, as they were both cut by her claws. Looking around, Mira noticed that they were indeed on the ocean. The dark waters churned on the coast, with a small dock extending out. At the dock was a ship, with several other enchained humans, with Dark Elf guards. The guards shouted out, as they tried to intercept the demon woman, only to get blasted into oblivion by Mira's dark magic. In an instant, Mira defeated all the slave drivers. The slaves all looked up in horror at their savior, who quickly realized that this form wasn't useful for talking with them.

"Can any of you sail?" she asked. After a moment's hesitation, a couple of people raised their hands.

"Then go wherever you need to escape," Mira said, "And never get captured again." It seemed that the people didn't know how to react to their sudden freedom, but eventually "thank you"s began to resound to the Fairy Tail mage.

"Where would the other slaves be taken?" Mira said, once they were done.

"Most of the slaves are in Naggarond, the seat of power for the great Malekith, the Witch King," one man said, coming up to Mira.

"Malekith, eh?" Just the mention of his name seemed to make the people uncomfortable.

"The Witch King is one of the mightiest warriors and spell casters in the whole world," a woman said, "They say no one has ever defeated him in combat."

"Then I'll go to Naggarond and I'll face him," Mira declared, "Then I will go to the next city, and the next, and the next. You have my word, that I will not rest until every last slave in this kingdom is free, and Malekith is defeated!" The people looked up at her in awe, before they got on the boat, and after making sure they were sailing away, Mira turned to go. She removed the armor from one of the guards and dressed herself in it, before she approached one of the beasts. The lizard saw her coming, and snapped at her, growling. Mira just rolled her eyes, assumed one of her lesser Take Over forms, grabbed the lizard, and pinned it. The lizard struggled of ra time, but it was helpless before Mira's superior strength.

"You going to listen to me?" Mira said sharply, folding her arms. The lizard was silent, but when Mira lifted her foot off it, the creature didn't try and attack her, allowing her to mount it, as it ran down the road.

 **Note: After this, there will be one more establishing chapter, after which the story will kick up again. Since the characters have been scattered over a large world, I feel its necessary to establish their locations, and tell at least part of their story.**

 **A lot of people seemed to jump to the conclusion that Mirajane would end up with the Chaos Warriors, though the Dark Elves wear dark amor as well. Its important to note that her presence here amongst them will have** _radical_ **consequences in the future. And soon she'll meet Malekith.**

 **Please review.**


	9. Gray I

_**Gray I**_

Gray wasn't sure how long he'd been out, as when he opened his eyes, the sun seemed to be setting. It was a good thing he felt himself being prodded, cause he wouldn't have wanted to be out here in the middle of the night. When he looked up, he saw two men standing over him. He was on the outskirts of what looked like a pine forest, with an open plain before him, cut by a road.

"You okay, son?" one of the men asked. They're helmets, breastplates, and halberds set them out as soldiers, but they didn't look like Fiore or Magic Council soldiers. One was cleanly shaven, while the other had a short beard.

"I think so," Gray said, "Where am I?"

"About three miles from the nearest tavern," one soldier said, "We were going to our fort, when we found you collapsed by the road, with no shirt.

"Let me guess," the other said with a chuckle, "You went out drinking with your friends, and then tried to ride home?"

"Would you believe a magic portal?" Gray responded, getting to his feet, rubbing his head. That surprised the soldiers, who glanced at each other, looking a tad nervous.

"Are you from the College of Altdorf?"

"The what now?" Gray asked, cocking his head.

"Where else could you have gone through a portal?" one soldier asked.

"I heard the Bretonnains have some pretty good sorceress," the other said, "Are you from there?"

"What's Bretonnia?" The soldiers looked at him like he was crazy.

"Well, I'm not going to try and ponder why you know so little?" one said, "Its none of our business anyway."

"That symbol," the one with the bead asked, gesturing to Gray's Fairy Tail mark, "What is it from?"

"Its my guild mark?" Gray answered, gesturing.

"Ah, you're from a guild. What's your profession?"

"I'm a mage," Gray answered simply. That got both men to take a step back, glancing a thin with apprehension. Though Gray couldn't imagine why.

"We have to continue on our way," the other said, "So, safe travels." With that, they started to walk away.

"Could you at least point me in the direction of the nearest town?" Gray called.

"Just follow the road that way," the soldier said, pointing, "You'll get to Wiedenbach that way. But be quick, you don't want to be out here at night."

"Alright, thanks!" Gray said, waving. After waving back, the soldiers went down the road in one direction, while Gray went down the other direction. As he did, he tried to figure out where he was. He didn't know anything about the "Empire" or "Bretonnia".

By the time he arrived at the place called "Wiedenbach", the sun was starting to full duck beneath the horizon. It was a town maybe slightly smaller than Magnolia, though all Gray really needed was some directions, and maybe a map. As he walked through the town, the ice mage looked around at the people. They were dressed considerably different to the people he was used to seeing. Their clothing was dirtier, and more ragged. Most of the buildings seemed to be wooden or cobblestone mostly.

Eventually, Gray across a larger building with a sign hanging over it saying "The Beast's Brewery", and Gray had stayed in enough inns to know one when he saw one. Going in, he saw a number of other soldiers, among other people. Gray went up to the bar, who had an older man behind it.

"Yo!" Gray said, waving, as he came up. The man looked up from the counter he was cleaning.

"Yes?"

"I'm a little lost," Gray said, "This is Wydenback, right?"

"Wiedenbach," the man corrected, looking back to his counter.

"That's it," Gray answered, "I'm looking for my friends. Can you maybe point me in the right direction?"

"Where are you trying to go?"

"A city would be nice."

"Well the largest city in Talabecland is Talabheim, the provincial capital," the man (who Gray figured to be the owner) said, "Its South from here if you keep following the road."

"Well, I guess that's where I need to go," Gray muttered.

"But don't go down there at night. I heard some Beastmen were sighted moving through this region. Supposedly a battalion of soldiers were sent to deal with them." Gray figured that was where the soldiers he met were gong, and though he didn't know what "Beastmen" were, but he didn't need a genius to know that they were probably trouble.

"Well how much does it cost to rent a room?"

"Ten coins for one night," the inn owner said.

"And how much work will I need to do in order to pay it off?" Gray asked, sweat dropping slightly. The owner chuckled slightly as he polished a glass.

"You know what, you're clearly not from here," he said, "And I'm a good mood tonight, so I'll let you stay one night for free, but if you want to stay any longer, you'll have to start working."

"Thanks!" Gray said with a grin, "But I only need one night." With that, he was directed to his room. While he was grateful to get a free night, when he saw the state of the room, he saw the condition it was in, and realized while the guy was suddenly so willing to give it. It had no windows, the bed was missing two posts, and the only other piece of furniture was a worn out chair.

But Gray had gone through far worst that this, and he'd done harder things with his magic. Creating two substitute bedposts out of his ice, Gray promptly kicked back, and fell asleep, knowing he'd need rest for what would no doubt be a very long journey ahead.

 **Note: Kind of a boring chapter yeah, but this is the last establishing chapter for now. Starting next chapter, the story will pick up again.**

 **Choosing the province for Gray to go to was harder than one might think. I wanted him to go to the most "normal" province. I took out Reikland, because I didn't want to put Gray in the Emperor's presence, or at least not yet. I chose Talabecland, because based on my reading of the lore, it seemed the least extreme in any particular direction.**

 **Now I guess its worth saying when in the Warhammer timeline this takes place. It takes place before the End Times have begun obviously, but still in the reign of Emperor Karl Franz.**

 **Please review.**


	10. Natsu II

_**Natsu II**_

Natsu pretty quickly decided he didn't like Nelaryn. Whenever Natsu tried to talk to the elf, he was either ignored, or put down. It was especially frustrating, because he really wanted to find about what this place he was stuck in, and how to leave. The only thing Nelaryn was apparently willing to talk about was how amazing this kingdom was (Natsu had already forgotten what it was called), and how amazing the elves were; something Nelaryn kept stressing was that they were _High_ Elves, not that it meant anything to Natsu. If nothing else, he and Happy were learning more about where they were.

Fortunately, they eventually got in a cart, and Natsu didn't have to worry about talking to him. But what was weird, was while he still fight sick, it actually wasn't as bad as it was in the past. Unlike previous times where he literally felt like he was dying, he more felt slightly queasy and off balance. He couldn't imagine the reason why.

They were currently going towards what Nelaryn said was the nearest city, though he had failed to name it. Looking up, Natsu could see white spires on the horizon.

"Is that the city?" Happy asked.

"What to do you think?" Nelaryn said sarcastically, "And while I don't really anticipate this as a problem, bare in mind, the people we've seen don't see many humans. Don't cause trouble."

"That's like asking Natsu not to eat," Happy said, with a giggle. Natsu just stayed still, wallowing in his discomfort. Soon, they came across a great white wall, which Natsu had to admit was impressive. The gates promptly opened, allowing Nelaryn's cart to make it through.

Natsu was all too glad to jump off the cart, and let out a relaxed breath. He then looked around to see the city, and was surprised by the sight of it. It was massive, with great white spires and paved roads. In the distance, there was one tower that was so tall, it seemed to dwarf the great Mercurius Castle in Crocus. However, the streets were almost completely empty, save for a few people briefly passing from one building to another. The streets were also dirty, and most of the buildings had their lights out.

"This place looks…," Natsu wasn't sure what the word was, since "gloomy" didn't seem to cover it.

"This city hasn't seen life in years," Nelaryn said grimly, as he got off his cart, and picked up one sack of grain, "But my grandfather told me that when he was a child, these streets were bathed in magical light and music."

"Wow, so what happened?" Happy asked, floating over Natsu's shoulder.

"How should I know?" Nelaryn said, "It was a couple thousand years ago." Natsu blinked, as he cocked his head in confusion.

"Wait, but you said that your grandfather was a kid back then."

"He was," Nelaryn said, as he walked down the street, Natsu and Happy following him.

"So how old are you?" the Dragon Slayer asked.

"Slightly more than 600 years old."

"EH!" Happy and Natsu said together. That was even older than Zeref.

"How old can you guys get?" Happy said.

"What does it matter?" Nelaryn answered bitterly, "What do long lives matter when they can't be replaced?" Natsu and Happy looked at each other, but neither said anything, as they followed Nelaryn to one particular building, where another elf was standing.

"Faltius!" The elf looked up, and smiled at the sight of the farmer.

"Nelaryn, good to….," he passed when he saw Natsu, "Why is there a human here?"

"Yo, I'm Natsu!" Natsu said with a grin, "And this is Happy."

"Aye!"

"He claims to have been sent here by a magic vortex," Nelaryn said, "I'm hoping to leave him here." Faltius scowled at the sight of Natsu and the Exceed.

"Humans," he said with a sneer, "We should go out back across the sea and conquer them all."

"If you have an army in your ovens, best bring them out then," Nelaryn said.

"Damn the Cadai for letting Ulthuan fall into such a state," Faltius hissed.

"Bite your tongue for such blasphemy!"

"They won't mind. They only listen to the traitors in Naggaroth and Athel Loren."

"Who're the Cadai?" Happy whispered.

"Dunno," Natsu answered, "But these guys really don't seem happy."

"And King Finubar wastes resources on those ridiculous voyages," Nelaryn grumbled, "When he could spend those resources building our infrastructure."

"What infrastructure is there to build," Faltius answered, "Maybe back in the old age there was something to build upon. At least when the dragons were here."

"Dragons?!" That made both elves jump back slightly in surprise. Natsu was looking straight at them, with an _extremely_ interested look on his face.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You said there're dragons here, right?" Natsu asked, his eyes glowing in excitement. Nelaryn and Fatilius looked at Natsu and then each other with irritated, if not somewhat confused expressions.

"What does it matter to you?" Nelaryn asked.

"My dad's a dragon!" Natsu said proudly, thumping his chest. Yet again, the elves gave him bewildered looks.

"You humans have rather bizarre senses of humor," Nelaryn said.

"He's not joking," Happy said, "He really was raised by a dragon, named Igneel."

"I've heard some pretty bizarre stories in the centuries," Nelaryn said, folding his arms, "But this is certainly something exceptional."

"I ain't making it up!" Natsu said, "Where're the dragons?"

"I said they _were_ here, they've long since withdrawn from the world," Faltius said, "At any rate, you could never find them, let alone wake them."

"Then I'll find them, and wake them up!" Natsu said, "Just tell me where they could be." At first the elves seemed reluctant, before an idea seemed to come to Faltius

"It might make him finally leave," he suggested to his friend.

"Well in that case," Nelaryn said with a grin, before pointing, "Go South, to the Dragonspine Mountains. If there are any dragons left, they will be there."

"Thanks!" Natsu said, before turning and running in the direction Nelaryn was pointing. As he ran, he could hear the elves laughing, but he didn't give a damn.

"You know they were just trying to get rid of you, right?" Happy asked, as he flew beside Natsu.

"I don't care!" Natsu said, "I gotta find these dragons!"

"What if you can't find them?"

"I will!" Natsu said firmly, grinning, "I can feel it my gut!" With that, he ran out of the city, and towards the South, to what Nelaryn called the "Dragonspine". He was going to find these dragons, that much he was sure of.

 **Note: So Natsu's going out to look for the dragons of Ulthuan. This will mark the beginning of some pretty severe changes for Ulthuan. For perspective, he was at the city of Summersong, in Ulthuan's southern regions. According to the maps, it is not far North of the Dragonspine Mountains.**

 **That's not going to be the last we see of Nelaryn.**

 **Please review.**


	11. Lucy II

_**Lucy II**_

The Lizardmen lead Lucy through the jungle. While there was no discernible path, at least to her, they apparently were leading Lucy deliberately. They mostly moved through the trees, leaving Lucy to go through the ground. Occasionally, they would come to a river, but conveniently placed rocks allowed the blonde to hop across it. As they moved, Lucy would look up, and see what she originally thought were mountains peaking over the tree line. But then they broke out of the trees, and it was like Lucy had stepped into a different world.

Lucy was awed at the city that was now before her. Much of it consisted of great towering pyramids that stepped up to some kind of shrine at the top. The streets between them were filled with small buildings. Moving about these buildings were more of the thin lizards, but Lucy was offset by the massive, ten foot tall reptilians, who looked less like lizards and more like crocodiles, apparently being guided by the smaller lizards. Also mingling about, were lizards somewhere in between, who had what looked like thicker scales, and more powerful bodies. They eventually came up to the largest of the pyramid, where they stopped.

"Go!" the red crested lizard said, pointing to the top.

"Wait," Lucy said, "You want me to climb to the top of this pyramid?"

"Yes."

"Up all these stairs?"

"Yes."

"After all the walking we did?"

"Yes." Lucy looked reluctant, until with a yelp, she got struck in the rear by one of the lizard's tails.

"The Slann do not like to be kept waiting," the lizard hissed. That got her to climb. The climb was steep, and as they got higher, Lucy got progressively more nervous, occasionally looking down nervously at the heights.

Trying to take her mind off how far from the ground she was, she looked up towards the top. Now that she was here, Lucy could see what looked like a glow at the top of the pyramid. Not that she hadn't seen glowing things before, but this glow was different. It was more otherworldly, and more primal. As they were climbing the stairs, more of the larger lizards were framing the steps, standing so still, Lucy thought they were statues at first.

Eventually, they finally got to the top, where Lucy got to see what this "Slann" was. She wasn't sure what to think when she saw a giant toad not so much sitting as much as lumping on a floating pedestal, framed by the two giant reptiles. Surrounding was the strange glow Lucy saw from before, and it had red and yellow skin, with half closed, glowing green eyes. Good thing for the glow, since it showed it was still alive. The lizards knelt before the creature.

"What is this?" the toad croaked. It was literally like a toad had learned out to talk.

"Great Lord, we found this human deep in the Eastern forests," the red-crested lizard answered, "She has strange, foreign magic." The toad shifted slightly in his seat, and held up his hand. But before Lucy could approach (as she thought he was instructing), she found herself floating up to the pedestal. Once she got close, the toad leaned forward slightly (or as much as it could considering his horrendously fat gait), and looked over her.

"Describe the magic you use, warm blood," he croaked.

"Uh," Lucy said, "Well, simply put, I can use magic keys to summon magical spirits to fight with me. I can also use the keys to incorporate their powers into me for a time."

"There is no mention of a yellow haired human female, who can use magic concerning keys." Lucy had a feeling that no one could make that kind of prediction, not even Cana. But it was a long way down the pyramid.

"Look," Lucy said, "I'm not here by choice. If you want me to leave your land, all you need to do is show me the way out, and I'll be out of your… scales?" Though this toad didn't seem to have scales like the others.

"You're power is not akin to Chaos," the toad said, as he sat back on his throne. Lucy plopped to the ground, and looked up she rubbed her sore behind.

"I shall meditate on her fate," the toad said, "Her magic may warrant study. In the mean time, imprison her." Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but the larger lizards moved surprisingly fast, despite their size, and grabbed her by the throat. She tried to grab her keys, but the lizard grabbed them off her belt. Lucy gagged, as she was dragged down the pyramid.

After they got to the bottom, she was throne into a damp, moss covered cell. Coughing, the blonde looked up just as the door was being slammed shut. Looking around, Lucy saw there was nothing in the cell, save for a single circular window, which let at least some light in.

Bringing her knees in, Lucy hid her face, and sniffled slightly. She then sat in the darkness for she didn't know how long, with no idea what to do. That was when the door opened, and Lucy looked up to see the same red-crested lizard that brought her coming in.

"What do you want?" Lucy demanded.

"Just to study you," the lizard answered, leaning on its tail, and folding its arms, "My name is Itzaco." Lucy didn't know why the lizard was telling her all this, but figured to see how much information she could get out of him.

"What exactly is this place I'm in?"

"You are in Xlanhuapec the City of Mists."

"And you're a 'lizardman', right?" Lucy asked.

"Skink," Itzaco corrected, "That is what I am."

"What's the difference?" Lucy asked.

"There are four variants of Lizardmen in Lustria, each created by the Old Ones to serve a specific purpose," Itzaco explained, "The Slann are the leaders and priests, the Saurus are the soldiers and commanders, the Skinks are the artisans and architects, and the Kroxigor are the laborers."

"And you're a Skink?"

"Indeed."

"But why do you have that red crest then?" Lucy asked, pointing, "I haven't seen other Skinks with that crest."

"This crest marks me as blessed by Sotek," Itzaco answered, pointing to the crest.

"Sotek?"

"The great god of serpents. He once delivered Lustria from disaster, when the Old Ones were absent."

"Who're the Old Ones?" Lucy asked.

"No one really remembers," Itzaco answered, but said nothing else on the topic, as if it was something he didn't like talking about.

"So how long am I going to be here?" Lucy asked.

"It is not my decision to make," Itzaco answered, "But the Slann may not be inclined to do anything for you. If anything, they might find you ill suited for this world, and will destroy you."

"That's not encouraging to hear," Lucy said with a cringe, "Is there anything you can do?"

"The word of the Slann is absolute. They interpret the will of the Old Ones." While Lucy couldn't read the expression of such a being, there was a strange tone under his voice that Lucy couldn't pin down.

"You don't seem to agree," Lucy said, as she looked at him closely. The Skink was silent for a time, as his tail swished out behind him.

"It may be sacrilege for me to say so, but those priests are more obsessed with studying the past, than preparing for the future," Itzaco admitted, "They think that by reading ancient plaques, they can learn the ways of ancient beings."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"It doesn't harm the empire," Itzaco answered, "And I was never told not to do it, so I felt it was worth letting you understand what was happening, at least. At any rate, you're magic intrigues me. Anything new in this world intrigues me." Apparently deciding that was all he wanted to say to Lucy, the Skink took his leave, closing the door with his tail, leaving Lucy alone again. The blonde, trying to look on the bright side, was happy to know that she had someone who was willing to be nice to her.

 **Note: So Lucy's in the City of Mists, and is being kept as a prisoner by the Slann. However, she may find some companionship with a Skink of Sotek.**

 **Speaking of which, the position of Sotek amongst the Old Ones seems to vary depending on the edition. But from what I've read on the Warhammer wiki, and 1d4chan, he's** _ **not**_ **one of the Old Ones, but is a new god. So to that end, I'm going off that edition that Sotek isn't an Old One. That's worth distinguishing, as it seems based on what I've read, that for the red crests, their loyalty to Sotek supersedes their loyalty to the Slann. And even then, for the sake of the story, its worth taking note of.**

 **Please review.**


	12. Wendy II

_**Wendy II**_

Wendy spent most of the ride feeling sick, though not severely so. Strangely, it wasn't as bad as it usually was. When Wendy first got motion sick, she was riding a train back to Lamia Scale after a mission; right then, she suddenly had a great deal more sympathy to Natsu. But this time, it was more a general queasiness and discomfort, and Wendy was glad to be fully aware, so she could see what was flashing around her.

Riding on the stag, Wendy was awed at the forest they were passing through. They went over rivers, valleys, and ravines. It was a truly beautiful place, that Wendy wished she could've seen in different circumstances. The riders, including Asarith, seemed to be having no trouble holding onto their mounts that were darting through the foliage with no trouble at all. And yet they seemed to be only just able to keep up with Orion. The massive figure across the land somehow even easier than the stags, with the white hounds on his heels.

Eventually, they exploded out of the tree line, and Wendy looked up, she saw what they were approaching. It was the largest, and most spectacular tree Wendy had ever seen. It was so large, Wendy was surprised that she hadn't seen it earlier as they approached, as it made the rest of the trees in the forest look like shrubs. A glowing blue mist hung around its tops, as lights flickered through the leaves, and glowing symbols ran through its trunk. Surrounding the tree was a moat, save for a single strip of shallow water that lead up to the tree's base.

As Orion moved closer to the tree, the riders dismounted, bringing the girls with them, with Wendy being held by the collar. During the ride, Carla had turned back to normal. After some rather awkward explanations why the girl they had picked up was suddenly a cat, the two weren't so much lead, as they were pushed forward. Wendy looked around, and noticed more elves looking down at them. They all had long blonde hair, with similar fair features to the riders; but those fair faces were contorted with suspicious frowns. As Wendy moved forward, she found herself being drawn more to the tree. There was something about it, something….

"Stop," Asarith instructed, grabbing Wendy's shoulder as Carla stopped as well, "Outsiders cannot approach the Oak of Ages."

"'Oak of Ages'," Wendy murmured, as she looked back up at the tree. She watched as Orion waded into the shallow part of the moat, and fell to one knee, as he looked up, and held out his hand. The Dragon Slayer looked into the the canopy of the massive tree, before she saw a female figuring descending. Dressed in a long, bright green dress, the woman was beautiful in a severe way, with flowing blonde hair, and piercing purple eyes, that were just as wild as Orion's. But really caught the eye were the pink and gold butterfly wings that came out of her back, that seemed to release purple and gold glitter. As she approached Orion, he took her hand.

"My lady," he said, kissing it.

"I am glad to see you return, my love," the woman said, "I trust the hunt was a success?"

"We were able to slay the majority of the beasts, but I believe some still evades us," Orion answered, "But we also found these two outsiders." He gestured to Wendy and Carla, who looked up at the winged woman. She glared at them, as she floated past Orion, towards them.

"Kneel to our lady Ariel, the Queen in the Woods," Asarith instructed, as the girls promptly did as they were told. Ariel looked over the girls, as she landed before them, and circled them.

"Who are you, child?" she hissed.

"My name is Wendy Marvell, Ma'am," Wendy said, "And this is my partner, Carla."

"I don't care about the cat." Wendy would've told the queen off for that, but she looked at Carla, who just shook her head at the Dragon Slayer.

"Why are you here?" Ariel inquired, as she rubbed her fingers together.

"We were sucked into a magic vortex, and when we woke up here, we were in the forest." The Queen in the Woods look down at Wendy, narrowing her purple eyes.

"You are not lying," she muttered slightly, before asking, "Where do you come from?"

"From Fairy Tail, in Magnolia."

"Never head of either of them," Ariel said, "What country are they in?"

"They are in Fiore."

"Never head of such a place either," the Mage Queen said, as she floated away from Wendy slightly.

"What will you have us do, my Lady?" Orion asked, standing behind her. Ariel was silent for a time, as she apparently considered it, rubbing her chin.

"This girl has an aura that even I do not recognize," she finally said, "She comes from no land known to us, and she uses strange magic."

"Give the word, and I will end her here and now," Orion said, putting his hand on his spear. That made Wendy take a step back in anticipation.

"No," Ariel answered, holding up her hand, "This requires thorough study and consideration, so she will be kept here with her cat. No harm is to come to her, and she is not to be let out of our forest." Wendy wasn't sure how to respond to that, but she couldn't, as Ariel floated back up into the trees of the Oak.

"The Queen has spoken," Orion said, "No harm is to come to this girl while she is under the boughs of Athel Loren. She is also to be watched constantly, is that clear?" A resounding affirmation was called out.

"Now what are you still doing here, don't you have duties to do?" Orion ordered, before looking towards Asarith, "Seeing as you have been around this child the longest, you will steward her."

"Wait?" Wendy asked, "What are we supposed to do?" Orion just ignored her.

"You can do what you wish, so long as you do not trespass in our sacred locations," Asarith answered, "And don't worry, I will direct you away from them."

"Um, thank you?" Wendy asked, really not sure what to say in response.

"With that said, come," Asarith said, gesturing, "If you are to stay here, then you and you history must be understood. Now follow me." Really having no idea what to do, Wendy and Carla followed as Asarith, as he lead them towards the tree line.

Once they got there, Asarith banged his spear on his shield. After a few minutes, Wendy could see some movement in the trees, as something very large advanced on them, and soon it broke into the open. It was a giant walking talking… tree. There really wasn't any other way to put it. The being was humanoid in shape, but was made completely of wood, the body being made of gnarled pieces of wood. It had a humanoid face, with glowing eyes and a glowing mouth, with a long stream of moss that looked like a beard.

" _San krali suja Asarith_."

"Greetings Thilovakas," Asarith answered with a nod. Wendy had no idea how he understood that language, but she didn't say anything.

" _Zu suto alta muus_?" the tree asked, pointing to Wendy.

"It is," Asarith said, "She is to stay among us, so she must be understood. You will hear her." The tree looked at Wendy for a time, though it had no expression that Wendy could discern.

"Tell him about yourself," Asarith eventually said. Wendy didn't know how a tree was a "he", but figured she shouldn't think about it. With that in mind, she started describing herself: the way she arrived in the forest, her guild, and the fact that she was raised by a dragon. She figured that the treeman would probably know if she was lying, so she figured honesty was the best way. She then told Carla to do the same, and while it took some convincing, the exceed eventually did it.

" _Marak alrant se_. _Zol malin darak ma_."

"He's curious about the magic you wield," Asarith translated, "What is this 'Dragon Slaying Magic'?"

"Well," Wendy said, shifting on her feet, "Simply put, it allows me to take on the features and abilities of a dragon, namely a Sky Dragon. This includes healing."

" _Henal za kras_."

"What is the span of this healing ability? He's very interested in this." Thilovakas was silent, as it stroked its "beard". It then looked to Asarith.

" _Rakna sa Durthu_." Asarith blinked at that, taking a slight step back, apparently at the mention of this "Durthu".

"If I may ask, why?" he asked, "What could Lord Durthu do with her? At any rate, we would need the approval of the king." Thilovakas answered with more of his creaking language, and while neither of them could understand it, Wendy and Carla exchanged glances. Dearth seemed like someone powerful.

" _Zalphas kel Durthu_."

"Do you really think so?" Asarith said, before looking at Wendy briefly, "Could you use the magic on anyone or anything?"

"Um, well," Wendy said, trying to think, "I've never tried it beyond humans or exceeds like Carla, but maybe."

"If that's the case," Asarith said, "Preparations must be made."

"What sorts of preparations?" Carla asked.

"I'm not sure yet," was all the elf said, before departing. Thilovakas disappeared back into the trees, leaving the partners alone.

"So what do we do now?" Wendy asked.

"I certainly wish I knew," Carla answered.

 **Note: As you can no doubt read, this was mostly Wendy trying to settle more into the surrounding environment. Apparently she might be able to do something for Durthu, if Thilovakas is to be believed. This will be expanded upon soon.**

 **Don't worry, action will come soon enough. The next story will be for Erza.**

 **Please review.**


	13. Erza II

_**Erza II**_

After being allowed to stay the night, Erza knew that it was only fair to help Jaune carry his grain into town with his family. To her surprise, they didn't have any beasts of burden, and instead Erza had to help Jaune drag their grain on a wagon. Something that had caught the knight's attention as they did that, was how much of it was on the wagon. Fleur and Ada were following behind them.

"How big was your harvest?" she asked, figuring it must have been if they were sending in this much.

"Same as always," Jaune answered simply. That surprised the scarlet-haired knight, as she glanced back at the haul. She figured it must have been big if they could give away this much.

"Ah, we're here," Jaune said, with a smile.

"Good, I think…" She abruptly stopped talking, as Erza stared at the village, and a tingle slithered up her spine, as a feeling of express horror washed over her. This village, if it could even be called that, was mostly a series of poorly made huts and structures. The people were dressed in similar rags to the ones Jaune was wearing. Further up the dirt path that constituted as a "road" was a castle, which Erza figured was the home of the lord.

"Um," Erza said, not sure what to say.

"I just have to drop off the shipment and we'll be back on our way," Jaune said, "The tavern is the largest one there." The "largest one" was apparently a "building" that was somewhat larger than the rest.

"If you don't mind me asking," Erza said, "This looks like a lot of your crop. Shouldn't more be left to yourselves?"

"Oh, we only keep one tenth of our crops," Jaune said simply.

"What?" Erza asked, positive she'd misheard that.

"Nine tenths of our profits are delivered to Count Castil," Fleur explained as she came up, "In exchange, he offers us protection from the dangers of the world."

"That is… depraved!" Erza cried out loud. There was no other way to describe it, it was absolutely depraved. If this pile of dirt that could somehow pass as a village counted as protection, Erza shuddered at the thought of what the lord may have been willing to stoop to.

"There is nothing to be upset about," Fleur said with a smile, "The knights of Bretonnia are our shield. We are the steeds and they are the riders. What is one without the other?"

"That analogy is ridiculous," Erza said, "The common people aren't just animals for others to call upon when needed."

"What's an 'analogy', Mama?" Ada asked.

"I'm not sure, dear," Fleur answered, after a brief period of pondering

"Well, regardless," Jaune said, smiling as well, "We are content with our life here. We will serve our lords as they will protect us." At first Erza couldn't understand the smile, but then it soon became apparent; she had seen it once in the Tower of Heaven, these people had known literally nothing else outside of this life. That infuriated the woman, as she glared at the castle as they came into the town. Despite that, Erza helped Jaune bring the grain to the town center, where a few men dressed in armor and carrying swords were standing. The armor was fairly ornate, leading Erza to ponder if these were the so called "knights".

"You're late," one of the men said, glaring at Jaune.

"My apologies sir," Jaune said, "The road was rough. Not that Count Castil doesn't keep proper roads." Erza tried not to scream out loud at that.

"Who is this woman?" one of the guards demanded, gesturing to Erza.

"I'm…," Erza began.

"Was I talking to you, bitch?" the guard growled. If Erza was anything like Natsu, she would've cut them to ribbons already, but she wasn't Natsu, so she just sucked in a breath, and remained quiet.

"She is a mercenary."

"Ah," another guard asked, stepping forward, "We have been in need of another sword at the castle."

"Thank you, but I'd rather serve a liege who deserves it," Erza answered with a false smile.

"And you would imply our liege doesn't deserve it?"

"No," Jaune quickly tried to say, "She…"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Erza interrupted, "Any man who leeches off his people like that is…"

"Ah!" Erza whirled around, to see Ada on the ground. Standing over her was a man in an elaborate, colorful robe. He had neatly combed, dark hair, and a similarly styled beard and mustache. He was apparently dusting himself off.

"Such filth," the count said as he stared at some supposed stain, that even Erza with her keen eyes couldn't see, "It seems their mere presence spreads filth." It didn't take long for the scarlet-haired knight to determine that she didn't like this man, whom she assumed was the "noble" Count Castil.

"Forgive me, my liege," Fleur said, as she ran up to Ada, and wrapped her arms around her, "It was only an accident."

"Of course accidents happen," Count Castil said, as he fiddled with his beard, "But they should not happen twice." That was when Erza noticed that he was standing on Ada's doll.

"Ms Pretty!" Ada cried. She tried to go for it, only for Fleur to pull her daughter away.

"Oh be quiet," Castil said, as he started to raise his arm to strike, only for a red flash to push him back. Everyone could only stare at what they saw: Erza was standing between the count, and the family, her sword in the ground.

"Leave her be," the scarlet haired woman ordered, narrowing her eyes. For a time, everybody was silent; the silence was finally broken when Castil started babbling and screaming incoherently.

Y…y… you lowly commoner!" the noble eventually forced out, "You would da…" He couldn't finish, as an armored gauntlet socked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Erza then bent down, picked up the doll, and gave it back to Ada, who promptly took it and hugged it.

"This is the second time I've had to give back a lost doll," Erza said jokingly. However, when she looked around, she saw the villagers looking at her with horror. Erza wasn't surprised; this probably never happened before.

"Kill her! Kill her!" Count Castil suddenly snapped, "I command it!" The guards all charged at Erza, who spun her sword through her hand, and got ready, cracking her neck.

What ensured wasn't so much a fight, but a one-sided curb stomp. The first guard leapt at Erza who easily evaded the attack, and knocked him in the back of the head with her sword. Another guard brought his sword down, only for it to be parried, after which Erza swept his feet out from under him. The third guard came at Erza only to be tripped, and kicked in the face. That left the last guard staring in shock at his defeated comrades. He then met the steely gaze of the scarlet knight.

"Get out," was all she said. The warrior promptly dropped his sword and ran, with Erza kicking him in the ass as he did. Then she turned to the count, who was still in utter disbelief.

"Those were knights of Bretonnia, and you struck them down as if they were mad snotlings." Erza had no idea what a "snotling" was, but she still snorted.

"You call these fools 'knights'?" she said, "True knights defend the weak and ask for no reward; they don't strong-arm them and then demand one. Lowly cowards like you don't deserve to call yourself such." Castil continued to stumble over his words, before he finally stood up.

"This isn't over you red haired bitch!" the count said, as he ran out of the village. Erza didn't bother to chase him. She then looked out at the villagers, who were staring at her in absolute horror, including Jaune and Fleur.

"Listen…," Erza began, before the villages all started shouting over each other.

"You fool!"

"Who is going to protect us now!"

"This is why you can't trust outsiders!"

"Without the great count, who is going to protect us from the beasts!"

"You don't need him!" Erza shouted. Everyone was silenced, as they stared at her.

"Men like that won't protect you unless its in their interest," Erza explained, "You cannot count on them for your safety. You must protect yourselves, and your families."

"But what can we do?" Jaune said, stepping forward, "We are simple peasants. We do not have the abilities the knights do."

"Then I will teach you," Erza responded, before driving her sword into the ground before in demonstration and saying, "And you have my word, I will protect you until then." The peasants of Brionne just stared up at Erza, and while they had seen knights before, something about this woman seemed more chivalrous and noble.

 **Note: I'm actually kind of surprised by the amount of people who got on my case regarding how the peasants seemed to know the Empire. Well, there are some distinctions to make. One, Fleur only named the Empire, she didn't say what it was, and two, while the Bretonnian peasants may live in a bubble they can't leave (perhaps "prison" would be more apt a word), that doesn't mean foreigners can't enter. Is it really such a reach to suggest that a mercenary or traveler may pass through a local village? At any rate, I'm not going to bind myself absolutely to the lore; that would severely hamper the story. I'm more using the lore as a larger template to structure this story around.**

 **That said, I believe a true knight like Erza could easily beat any so called "knight" of Bretonnia, though a Grail Knight may be a different story. Speaking of, Grail Knights** _ **do**_ **sincerely believe in chivalry and protecting the weak, but the same can't be said for other knights.**

 **Be sure to review. In the next chapter, we'll see more of Natsu.**


	14. Natsu III

_**Natsu III**_

Natsu didn't know how long he had been running, but he didn't care, he was too excited. The possibility of dragons in this land was far too significant an opportunity to pass up. He remembered that Nelaryn and Faltius said that the dragons could be found in the "Dragonspine Mountains", and that those mountains were to the South of the city they had been in. Natsu had then made a mad dash into those mountains.

"Natsu, wait up!" Happy said, as he tried to keep up with Natsu.

"I got to go fast!" Natsu said, "If I go to slow, then I might miss the dragons!"

"Even if they're there," Happy responded, "they probably won't be going anywhere."

"I don't care!" Natsu said for what was probably the eighth time, to which Happy just sighed. The mountains they were moving through were jagged and rocky, reminding Natsu somewhat of teeth, or maybe a spine. _So THAT'S why they call it that!_ he suddenly thought, as if coming to an epiphany.

The Dragon Slayer than started scaling the mountains. They were fairly steep, and occasionally, he had to get Happy to carry him some of the way. Eventually, after some climbing, the duo came upon a small cave on one of the caves, just large enough for Natsu to get through.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Happy asked, "What if the dragons don't want you to wake them up?"

"Don't worry," Natsu said, giving the thumbs up, "If that happens, I'll kick its ass!"

"You sure?"

"Absolutely!" Natsu answered with his trademark grin, "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"You really want an answer?" Happy asked with a sweat drop. Natsu ignored his partner, before moving into the cave, Happy behind him. For light, he ignited his fist slightly, as Happy clung onto his back. After they got through the opening, the tunnel opened up very prominently, enough that Happy could fly freely if he wanted to. With that, they started walking down the tunnel.

"So what're you going to do if you find a dragon?" Happy asked.

"I'm going to ask him about Igneel," Natsu answered simply, "And if he doesn't know, I'm going to fight him." He noticed the way Happy balked at that, but he didn't care, he knew what he said. He opened his mouth to say that, but then they broke into a large open cavern, and that was when Natsu saw it.

The dragon was massive, about the same size as Igneel. With scales a deep blue with white streaks, it was truly a sight to behold. However the scales were coated with dust, and its colors had faded. It seemed like something that may have at one point been a truly majestic creature, but had since been worn down.

"I knew it!" Natsu said, jumping up and down in excitement, "I knew it!"

"It really is a dragon," Happy said, as he stared at the great serpent in awe.

"Hey, Mr. Dragon, wake up!" Natsu said, waving his hands in front of the dragon's face. However, the dragon didn't move.

"Come on! I wanna fight!"

"Are you crazy?" Happy cried out. Natsu ignored him, as he tensed at his impatience. He hand't come this far to be ignored. With that, he inhaled.

"I said… WAKE UP!" Natsu shouted, as he let loose his Fire Dragon's Roar at the dragon. The moment it made contact, a ripple of energy was sent out from Natsu, that blew Happy back slightly.

"What was that?" he asked. Natsu opened his mouth to say he didn't know, but that was when a resonating growl sounded out from the dragon. Meanwhile, the ripple resonated outward across the whole of Ulthuan.

 **(at the White Tower of Hoeth)**

Teclis hummed calmly to himself, as he gathered pieces of a shattered gemstone under a magnifying glass. He was in his laboratory, with various flasks and artifacts assembled about. Teclis was sitting at his desk, with a quill beside him taking notes on its own.

"Now tell me your secrets," he said, as he adjusted his magnifying glass. However, as Teclis did that, he felt the ripple wash over him, as his concentration was shattered, and everything floating tumbled to the ground. The Mage Lord stood up from his seat.

"Could it be?" he whispered, as he walked out to the balcony, looking to the South.

 **(at Lothern)**

Tyrion idly sharpened his sword as he always did, not really paying attention to anything else. Pausing to inspect it, he looked closely at the blade, before walking over, and placing it on the wall. He then removed his helmet, and started looking it over for details.

However, as he looked at the armor, the ripple washed over him. Tyrion looked out his window, into the distance, narrowing his eyes at the feeling.

"By Asuryan," he said, "They've woken up."

 **(also at Lothern)**

Phoenix King Finubar rolled up his document, as he set it aside. He then pulled over another one, and promptly put his signature on it, sighing as he did. _I could be sailing to Altdorf and beyond now_ he thought bitterly _But of course all the paperwork remains._ As he reached to dab his quill, that was when he felt the ripple, causing him to spill the ink. He looked up at the feeling of it.

"What was that?" he asked out loud, as he stood up, and opened his window. In the far distance, he could feel the energy radiating out.

"Its.. not possible," he murmured.

 **(somewhere)**

Everqueen Alarielle was meditating passively, and when the energy ripple struck her, she didn't move at first, until her eyes slowly opened. She then looked from her floating pedestal in the direction that the ripple came from.

"So the great age begins anew," she said softly.

 **(back in the mountains)**

Natsu and Happy were both knocked back as the massive dragon slowly pulled itself up, shaking the dust off its scales. Its glowing yellow eyes then opened.

" **I am Suranos of the High Star,"** the dragon said **, "Who would wake me?"** The creature looked around, before finally apparently noticing Natsu, arching an eye crest.

" **A human?"**

"That's me," Natsu said with a grin, jerking his thumb at himself, "My name is Natsu Dragneel!" The dragon, Suranos, looked at him closely before looking around.

" **Where is the Phoenix King?"** he asked.

"The Phoenix King?" Happy asked.

" **In the millennia I have slept, many have tried to rouse me from my slumber,"** Suranos said **, "None have succeeded. Only the Phoenix King himself could have done it."**

"I woke you up with my Dragon Slayer Magic," Natsu said proudly. Suranos was silent for a time, narrowing his eyes.

" **Come again?"**

"Dragon Slaying Magic, taught to me by my dad, Igneel!" Natsu declared. He thought the dragon would keep asking questions, but instead, he remained silent.

" **You have the body of a human, and yet the aura of a dragon,"** Suranos said, bending down towards Natsu.

"That's because I'm a Dragon Slayer!" Natsu said, thumping his chest. Suranos narrowed his eyes, before looking up, and into space.

" **I can sense it, the other dragons across Ulthuan are rising as well,"** he said **, "You're actions have set into motions events that will lead to incomparable consequences. You will join this campaign."**

"What?" Natsu asked, cocking his head.

" **When the time comes, you will fight with us,"** Suranos said **, "You have left an irreparable mark on the world. Will you take play the role you have destined yourself to?"** Natsu was silent for a time, as Happy stared at him. The Dragon Slayer had no idea what to think about all this. Had he really left such a mark on his world with just one act? Was he really destined to do such things like what Suranos said? Natsu clenched his fists, closing his eyes. He then came to realize what he had to do.

"I will!" Natsu declared.

"Natsu," Happy said softly.

"Think of this like a job," Natsu said, "Besides, we at Fairy Tail finish what we start!"

" **Then let us rise."** Suddenly, Suranos grabbed Natsu in his claw, and dropped him onto his back. Happy was brought along for the ride as he held onto Natsu. With that, Suranos charged through the cave, breathing fire as he did. The small opening Natsu was blasted into one suiting Suranos, as he opened his wings, and leapt into the air.

All across the mountain side, there were explosions of rock, dust and fire. Out of those, crawled other dragons, shaking the dust of the ages off their scales. They looked up, at the sight of the massive dragon soaring over ahead.

" **Come my kin!"** Suranos roared **, "Let our music fill the world once again!"** Soon enough, the other dragons opened their wings, and sprung into the air after Suranos. Natsu and Happy watched in awe, as the sky was filled with the glittering scales of dragons.

And thus began the Resurgence…..

 **Note: This is what happens when you're on a plane for ten hours, with nothing really to do. Well, this and more** _ **Total War: Warhammer**_ **.**

 **So Natsu's power hasn't just woken one dragon, he's woken them all. Some people may protest that this is in defiance of Warhammer lore, but two things: again, I'm using lore as a template, not a guideline, and second, we're bringing in some of** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **'s rules as well, not just Warhammer's.**

 **I wanted to advance Natsu's story sooner rather than later, since its not a spoiler to say much of the events of this story will hinge on** his **actions.**

 **Be sure to review. Next chapter, we'll see Juvia in the "care" of Settra.**


	15. Juvia II

_**Juvia II**_

When Juvia regained consciousness, she was in a prison. It was dark, dry, and dusty, which Juvia figured she should've expected. The only light came from a window in the cell corner. Juvia looked down, and noticed some of her clothes had been taken. While she still had her underclothes, her hat and coat were all gone. Rubbing her head, Juvia quickly came up to the door.

"Open this door!" she shouted, slamming on it, "Let me out!" Naturally, there was no answer. Juvia took a step back, as she held up her hands as her magic power gathered around her.

"Water Neb…" She didn't finish, as symbols lit up on the walls surrounding Juvia in a golden light. A searing pain went through her body. Juvia let out a cry as she fell to the ground.

"What…" The door suddenly opened, and in walked someone. It was a tall figure, with a similar, mummified appearance to the others Juvia had encountered. He was dressed in white robes that were embroidered with gold; around his neck was a gold necklace embedded with blue gemstones. He was carrying a wooden staff that had a golden vulture on the top.

"Before I entered, I had to be sure the hieroglyphs would be effective," he said, with the same dry, rasping voice as the warriors from earlier. Juvia got ready to fight.

"Don't bother. The magic in these symbols were inflict pain on you every time you attempt to use your magic."

"Who are you?" Juvia demanded.

"I am Rahtas, and I speak for the great King Settra."

"Why am I here?"

"So that you can be observed, and studied," Rahtas answered simply, leaning on his staff.

"I told you before, Juvia is not a lab rat!" the Rain Woman declared. Rahtas was silent for a moment.

"It appears you do not fully understand your situation here," he said, "You have absolutely no say in what is happening here. So you have two options: continue to resist and get absolutely nowhere, or do as your instructed and perhaps get somewhere. It is your choice to make." Juvia opened her mouth, but closed it, as she considered the priest's words. It wasn't like he was really wrong.

"First, can you at least say where Juvia is?" Rahtas was silent at first, as if he was considering those options.

"I suppose that is not unreasonable," he finally said, "You are in the great Kingdom of Nehekhara. More specifically, you are in the city of Khemri." Juvia had never heard of any of those places.

"You trespassed into the city," Rahtas continued, "You were very fortunate the king chose to spare you instead of having you executed on the spot."

"Juvia is _so_ lucky," Juvia said sarcastically.

"Indeed you are," Rahtas said, the sarcasm bouncing right off him, "Little is greater than the mercy of Settra."

"Okay, now who the hell is Settra?" Juvia had a feeling that if Rahtas could make faces, it would be one of shock.

"Settra the Imperishable is the eternal king and founder of this great empire," he said, "He is quite possibly the greatest leader in all the lands. You should be honored to be his guest." Juvia had a feeling that she wasn't really a "guest" at this point. Come to think about it, thinking about what she saw when she first arrived, she had to question how "great" the kingdom was.

"Now that I have answered your questions, you must now answer mine," Rahtas instructed, "First, where have you come from?"

"Fairy Tail," Juvia answered, "Its a mage guild in the Kingdom of Fiore."

"I do not know such a nation called 'Fiore'," Rahtas said, "I also certainly know of no guilds that house magic users."

"Well, that is where Juvia is from," Juvia said plainly, folding her arms.

"So why are you here?" Rahtas asked. Juvia tried to find a way to answer that.

"Juvia… honestly doesn't really know," she eventually said, "One moment, I was in the guild hall, and the next, I was sucked into a magic vortex, and spat into the middle of the desert. All I could do was wander, and I came upon the river, and then to the city."

"Hmm," Rahtas said, tapping a finger on his staff. It seemed like he may have believed her, but Juvia couldn't be sure.

"What sort of magic do you use?"

"I can use Water Magic," Juvia explained, "It allows me to create, manipulate, and turn into water."

"Are you saying you can manipulate water?" Rahtas asked, rubbing his chin, suddenly sounding very interested.

"What do you think Juvia said?" While Juvia couldn't see his expression, the way he leaned forward made it clear what he was thinking. But she could not imagine why.

"Could you conceivably purify water?" he asked. Juvia thought about that briefly.

"Well, Juvia has done it before," she eventually said, "So it could conceivably be done."

"I must speak with the king!" Rahtas declared, suddenly turning on his heels, and leaving. Juvia blinked at that as the door slammed behind him, somehow even more confused than she was before her little "chat" with the priest.

 **Note: It appears that Juvia's magic has earned the attention of a Tomb Priest. Settra may be able to get some use out of our favorite water mage.**

 **Sorry about the short length, but this chapter served its purpose, which is to show what happened to Juvia, and what the future may hold for her. I considered having Rahtas explain the history of Nehekhara to Juvia, but it occurred to me that the history of the Land of Dead may be a testy subject to the residents, so I figured it wouldn't be appropriate at this point (maybe if Juvia earns their trust further). As you can guess, Rahtas is another OC.**

 **Be sure to review. Next chapter is Mirajane.**

 **Also, I know I'm shifting in and out of third person. That's 100% intentional on my part, since the English dub does something similar.**


	16. Mirajane II

_**Mirajane II**_

In hindsight, Mirajane figured it would have been prudent for her to find out about the geography of Naggaroth before striking out to find its capital. She considered herself lucky that there was a road for her to follow, or she would probably be lost rather quickly. But after about half a day of travel, she eventually made it to the city of Naggarond.

The S-Class mage wasn't sure whether she should be terrified, or awed by the city. She figured that both feelings were perfectly fitting. It was truly a monstrous city, with towering spires that had purple fire coming out of them. Its walls were as jagged as the rocks that it was built on, and dark clouds hung over it, as massive waves crashed against the cliffside. And yet at the same time, it had an otherworldly aura to it, that made Mirajane's jaw drop.

Shaking her head slightly to clear it, Mirajane pushed her mount forward. Soon enough she came close to the gate, which was framed by two massive towers. A shiver went up Mira's spine, as she saw what looked like bodies crucified on the walls battlements. Realizing that a white haired human probably wouldn't be well received, Mirajane tried to remember the face of one of the elves she took down, and transformed before advancing towards the gate.

"Halt!" Mira looked up, to see a guard standing on the wall over her, wearing similar amor to the one the mage was wearing.

"Who approaches the gate?"

"Back from patrol!" Mirajane lied.

"No patrol has been sent out," the guard said.

"I'm just following orders," Mirajane said, "If you don't know about them, its your problem, not mine."

"You want to tell the commander why the patrol was sent out?" Mira asked with a scowl, "So that he can tell his Majesty why his plans may have been delayed? I'd rather the anger go at you than me." The guard was silent for a time.

"Open the gates!" Mira tried not to show her sigh of relief, as they opened, allowing her to enter.

Based on what the Take-Over Mage had heard, she expected to be met by a grim and thoroughly unpleasant environment, and she was met by exactly that. The streets were filled the sound of chains, whips, and cackling. Elves flopped around with big mugs of alcohol, laughing, as enchained people walked around baring drinks. Mirajane's jaw tightened, tempted to rampage across the city immediately. But she remembered her goal, and knew that doing that wouldn't help. With that in mind, she took a deep breath, and advanced down the streets.

Something Mirajane and to consider now, was the fact that maintaining her transformed form was gradually siphoning off her magical energy. To that end, she needed to consider getting a different disguise. Mirajane then noticed another warrior marching down the road, dressed in a more ornate suit of armor, that included a mask. Quickly knowing that it would be far better to wear something like that, Mirajane dismounted her lizard, and started following this warrior. It took a few minutes for them to get out of the less crowded streets, but eventually the warrior seemed to really he was being followed.

"Is there a problem, soldier?" the warrior asked, turning towards Mira.

"Not all," Mira said, "Just admiring your armor."

"Then admire it somewhere else," the warrior said, "Piss off." He then turned to keep going only, to be struck in the back of the head by Mira's Satan Soul. She quickly changed out of her previous armor, and into this new armor, which hid her face better. Looking around from the alley, she hurried out, but she didn't get far before she heard someone yelling.

"What're you doing here?!" Mirajane looked over her shoulder to see a soldier in a similar armor to the one she had stolen approaching her.

"I…"

"The King will be making his address in less than hour," the warrior said, "Stop wandering and get back to the Tower!" Mirajane didn't have time to say anything, as she was suddenly pushed forward. She had thought she had being lead to a palace, but what she saw could certainly not be called a "palace". It was a colossal tower, with a razor sharp point, that had a purple flame lit atop it. Once again, Mira was't sure if she was supposed to be horrified, or amazed.

When they arrived at the Tower, Mirajane saw several other guards standing in formation. Once they got into the formation, Mira was forced to march with them into the tower, and up the stairs. Soon enough, they were in a massive hall. The hall was decorated with pieces of armor, and the skulls of various beasts that Mira had never seen before. At the end of the hall was a raised pedestal with a deep black throne on it; hanging over the throne was a symbol that looked like a helmeted skull crossed with two swords. Moving throughout the hall were various elves dressed in ornate black robes and crowns. If Mirajane had to guess, she would guess they were nobles.

"Take formation!" the guard commander instructed. The guards assembled a line across the walls, with Mira doing the best to mimic what they were doing. There was then a massive banging going out throughout the room. The banging was coming from an elf dressed in black robes. Mirajane didn't need to guess to notice a herald when she saw it.

"Hail Malekith! King of Naggaroth, Ulthuan, and all elf kind!" Malekith was a tall figure, a full head taller than Laxus, with broad shoulders. But his armor was what really caught Mirajane's eye. It was thoroughly ornate, that was a deep black, with gold lining, and a flowing red cape behind him. He was wearing a tall helmet that had splaying horns that looked almost like antlers, that were lined with gold. A golden mask that had a scowling expression covered his face, save for his eyes, which were a piercing green. A sword was at his hip. His presence commanded for more than just authority.

"Hail King Malekith!" the nobility sounded. Mira clenched her fists at the sight of the person she vowed to defeat. Malekith walked down the hall, his hands clenched behind his back. One nobleman came up to him.

"Your Majesty," he said, "I wish to…" He was suddenly downed when Malekith back handed him with his fist, sending the nobleman to the ground.

"Speak when spoken to," he said plainly, stepping over the noble's downed body. He then walked through the hall, as the rest of the nobility parted in deference. The guards all knelt before their king, and Mirajane knew to do the same. As the king moved by him, his presence was down right smothering. Mirajane struggled not to shake in anger. Fortunately, the dark elf kept walking, towards the throne, sitting down, putting his clawed gloves over the armrests.

"Now, what must be brought to me?" he asked. The same guy who was walloped in the face quickly approached the throne, kneeling.

"Your Majesty, if I may?" Malekith waved his approval.

"The slave drivers did not report back when they should have," the lord said, "With your permission, I would send a battalion to seek them out."

"No need," Malekith said, "What's a few lost meatbags. We will get new ones without issue. Next!"

For some time, Mirajane just watched as Malekith was approached by various nobles and officials. They brought up everything form asking for favors to giving reports. Mirajane had taken jobs for clients like that, who looked for anyway they could get a leg up with the big man in charge. All the while, she considered her potential actions. She obviously couldn't charge Malekith right where she was, since while she could maybe take the guards, she didn't know what Malekith could do. If the slaves she freed were right, he was powerful. As it turned out, she wouldn't need to, as Malekith suddenly stopped looking at the noble currently addressing him.

"Silence!" he ordered. The entire rome was exactly that, as Malekith slowly stood up from his throne. He then reached down, and drew his sword. It was made of a strange black metal, with gold embedded in it.

"We have an intruder" Malekith said, pointing his sword… straight at Mirajane. All eyes were immediately on her, including the guards. The woman immediately knew she had no other choice.

With a cry, she assumed Satan Soul, blasting away the armor she was wearing. the guards didn't even have a chance to react, as the shockwave sent most of them careening away. The nobles all recoiled back in shock, though Malekith himself didn't move. Several of the guards that weren't knocked back charged at Mirajane. However, Mirajane held up her hands, and released a blast of energy at them, sending them tumbling away. She then turned towards Malekith, flaring her wings at him.

"Stand down!" Malekith ordered suddenly, "I'll deal with her myself." He then descended the throne, undoing his cape. He then pointed his sword at her.

"Why are you here, creature?" he asked calmly.

"I'm hear to save the poor people you're keeping in chains!" Mirajane declared. Malekith snorted at that.

"How noble of you," he sneered, "I'm going to enjoy felling you like the vermin you are."

"You're a monster!" Mira snapped.

"Use your power, not your words," Malekith answered. That was all the invitation Mirajane needed, she gathered dark energy in her claws.

"Evil Explosion!" Mirajane said, releasing her signature attack at Malekith. The nobility all screamed and dove out of the way. Malekith however didn't move, as he held up his sword, and then brought it down as the orb of dark magic came at him. The sword cut right through the enchantment, causing it to vanish.

"What?" Mira gasped in horror.

"I don't know what this powers is, but Destroyer cuts through even the greatest enchantment," Malekith hissed, spinning his sword through his hands, "You're magic is useless in such a fight." Of course, that was far from the only thing Mira could do, as she leapt at Malekith, bringing down her claws. He blocked it with his sword, but Mira kicked before he could do anything. The force pushed him back, but he quickly recovered, and leapt at Mira, swing his sword, who moved out of the way. She then swung her claws at him again, though the claws were deflected by his armor. Mira was then forced back to avoid a strike from Malekith's sword.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed," he said, taking a step back, rolling his shoulders, "In the millennia I've been on this world, even I have never seen this kind of magic."

"I don't care," Mira said, "I'll still beat you!"

"Come now," Malekith said, gesturing with his sword, "Perhaps we can talk this over?"

"I'm a Fairy Tail mage!" Mira declared, "And Fairy Tail mag…" She couldn't finish as a shot of pain went through her body, causing her to tumble to the ground. She weakly looked up, and saw a woman dressed in black, with a sinister expression on her face. Mira could also see Malekith pointing, but she couldn't understand what he was saying, as Mira lost conscious.

 **Note: Mira's been captured by Malekith and Morathi. Well that's just terrific.**

 **I figured I'd give you a longer chapter than the last one. Let it be said that I'm using the design that is apparently going to be used for Malekith in** _ **Total War: Warhammer 2**_ **. I'm using the design of Morathi that I saw pictures of on the Warhammer wiki. For the record, the guards in question were the Black Guard of Malekith.**

 **People have been asking about the other characters, particularly Gajeel and Levy. I'll take this as an opportunity to say that the story will be divided into a Part 1, Part 2, and so forth. That's all I'll say about that for now.**

 **Please review, seriously. Next chapter we'll see Gray.**


	17. Gray II

_**Gray II**_

For what it was worth, Gray slept alright during the night. Not as well as he would've preferred, but well enough. However, that didn't prevent him from waking up thoroughly disoriented in this new place he'd never been before. Once he gathered his thoughts, Gray also gathered his clothes, and headed out after getting a map, striking down the road.

"Okay, how far is it?" Gray mused out loud. From the looks of the map, Talabheim was perhaps about 50 miles going Northeast. Taking a breath, Gray put the map in his pocket, and put his hands behind his head, as he continued walking, looking around. On one side of the road as an expanse of rolling hills, and on the other, a thick forest. If nothing else, Gray was content that the temperature was fairly pleasant, if not mild. Also, as roads went, the one he was on certainly wasn't terrible; he'd been on better, but he'd been on worse.

It had been a couple of hours, and nothing really happened. That was when Gray heard what sounded like marching. Approaching him was a battalion of what Gray guesstimated to be maybe 120 men approaching him. Each man was wearing a metal cap with a steel breastplate carrying halberds; they looked exactly like the soldiers that first found Gray. At the head of the group were four men on horseback wearing armor. Gray quickly got out of the way so they could march past him. However, as they did, one of the men on horseback broke off and approached Gray, waving.

"Hello!" he called to the mage, who waved back. He was wearing steel armor, with a helmet and visor, with what looked like a gun and a sword on his respective hips. On the plate was an imprint of an eagle with a crown over it. A banner crossed over the eagle's chest that said "Taal".

"What brings you to these parts, boy?" he asked, as the soldiers passed by, "These lands are dangerous."

"I'm just passing through," Gray answered, "I'm trying to get Talabheim."

"Well then you are certainly on the right road," the soldier explained, before apparently realizing something, "Oh, where are my manners, I am Captain Olaf Adolphus, and who are you, my boy?"

"My name is Gray Fullbuster," Gray answered after a moment, "I'm a mage of the Fairy Tail guild." The captain was silent for a moment, before he suddenly held up his fist.

"Halt!" The battalion suddenly stopped immediately in order. Gray couldn't imagine a reason why he would order a halt at this point. After dismounting Olaf then took off his helmet, revealing a shaved head, with a short mustache-beard combo. A scar ran down the left side of his face.

"Is there any reason you're not wearing a shirt?" he asked. Gray glanced down.

"Ah crap!" he said, looking around for his shirt, which he just couldn't find.

"What brings you this far into the wild?" the captain asked, as he folded his arms.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Gray answered, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

"Try me." Gray looked at him for a time, before sighing, and giving his explanation of events as he understood them. The captain arched his eyebrow slightly.

"Right," he said. Just as Gray had figured, Olaf didn't believe a bit of it.

"Well at any rate, I would keep moving, son," Olaf said, "There are dangerous things in these woods." Gray glanced at the battalion of men.

"I'm guessing that these men are here to deal with said dangers?" he asked.

"Aye," Olaf said, "So keep going and move fast. Talabheim will be safe, but these woods certainly are not."

"Just what the hell is out here exactly?"

"Beastmen, Greenskins, bandits, various kinds of abominations," Olaf answered, "I could go on."

"Thanks," Gray said, holding up his hand, "I got the point. But I think I can handle myself fine out here."

"You're not a soldier, boy," Olaf said, "I can only give you advice, but…" Suddenly the horse nickered, and reared, as if sensing something. As Olaf tried to ease it, Gray noticed the other horses were also acting like that.

"Oh shit," Olaf muttered. Gray was going to ask what was going on, before a soldier suddenly keeled over, an arrow in his neck. This was followed by a slight rumbling sound….

"AMBUSH!" Gray looked around to see what they were talking about, as aright then, dozens of separate forms exploded out of the trees.

"BEASTMEN!" "Beastmen" was a very apt word to describe these creatures. They looked like humanoid goats or cows, wearing ragged clothing and carrying what looked like old spears and swords in their meaty hands.

"Formations!" Olaf said, as he pulled out his gun. The soldiers desperately moved to enter formation, with their halberds sticking out. Gray was smart enough to move behind the battalion, and out of the Beastmen's way. He guessed there were maybe just as many of them as there were humans, maybe more.

Gray watched as the Beastmen crashed into the soldier's lines. A few were impaled on the halberds the soldiers had, but most of them crashed right through the lines were their horns. Olaf fired off his gun, killing one of the beasts instantly.

"Get out of here boy, if you know what's good for you!" he said, looking at Gray, before drawing his sword, and charging into the fray. However, Gray didn't immediately run, rather he watched as the soldiers were mowed down. Despite their efforts, the Beastmen were simply too fast and strong for otherwise regular guys to deal with on their own. It was almost immediately apparent that if Gray didn't do something, then these men were going to get massacred.

"Crap," Gray muttered, before he ran forward, past Olaf.

"What in Taal's name are you doing boy?" Olaf called in shock, "You'll be butchered!"

"Just worry about yourselves!" Gray said. He then put his hands together, and started gathering his magic. Some of the Beastmen noticed him, and with a bellow, several charged at him.

"Ice Make: Harpoon!" A series of spears made out of ice shot out of Gray's hands. Several of the Beastmen were impaled, and killed instantly by the ice. The sight of that made both the humans and the Beastmen suddenly stop, staring at the ice that had appeared from nowhere.

" _Mulgee hal mara?_ " one of beasts growled. Gray had no idea what he said, but he really, really didn't care at this point.

"Ice Make: Bazooka!" The blast of ice sent several Beastmen careening away, killing several more. Suddenly, all the Beastmen were interested in just him. A few dozen charged at him, and Gray knew that he would have to take it up a level. He gathered his power and took his Devil Slayer form.

"Ice Devil's Wrath!" He released a blast of ice that immediately froze several Beastmen solid. Some of those who didn't get frozen were blown away. That apparently was all that the rest of the Beastmen needed, as they all turned tail (though Gray didn't think they had tails), and thundered away in fear. As they ran, Gray wiped his brow slightly. That felt like it took more effort than it should've. He then looked back at the rest of the humans, to see them all staring at him in a combination of shock and amazement.

"What sort of magic was that?" Olaf finally muttered.

"Ice Magic, obviously," Gray said with a shrug.

"Are you from Kislev, boy?" Olaf all but demanded.

"Kislev?" Gray asked, cocking his head, "The hell is that?" That apparently counted as a "no". Gray could hear people the soldiers muttering amongst themselves about the ice magic.

"This power," Olaf said, "You defeated an entire Beastmen ambush party on your own with that magic. That's… amazing!" The many different soldiers al echoed those sentiments, which made Gray sweat drop slightly.

"Alright, that's all well and good, but can you just point me towards Talabheim again?" Gray asked, pointing.

"Forget that!" Olaf declared, "I'm taking you to Talabheim myself! The count must see this!" Gray opened his mouth to protest, but figured there wouldn't be any real reason at this point, seeing gas he was going to Talabheim anyway.

"Alright then, lead the way," he said, shrugging again.

 **Note: And Gray seemed to be having the most normal time up until now. His actions are going to continue the ripple effect across this world.**

 **Please review. Next chapter. we'll see Cana with the dwarves.**


	18. Cana II

_**Cana II**_

Cana had a feeling that the dwarves weren't giving her the _really_ good ale, considering how reluctant they were to give up anything else. Nonetheless, it was quite possibly the absolute best ale she'd ever had. She was currently sitting a table with some dwarves, having an otherwise pleasant conversation about what was going on.

"So what exactly brought you here?" Gorik asked, "I imagine you don't regularly collapse atop mountains."

"No kidding," Cana said, swirling the mug she had, "I'm not really sure what happened, but I was in my guild hall talking with my friends, looking over this big, weird game one friend brought home." She then downed the ale in one swig.

"Refill!" she called. A dwarf woman hurried over to oblige her.

"By the ancestors," a dwarf named Fertan said, "I'd say that kind of drinking could make a dwarf raise an eyebrow. Certainly made me do it."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Cana said, before continuing her story, "And I'm not sure what exactly happened, but then some kind of magic activated, and we were all sucked into the portal. I guess the portal sent me to the top of the mountain."

"Hmm," Gorik mused, stroking his beard, "I suppose we could inquire a runesmith about such a thing, but such magic is far beyond anything a dwarf could wield."

"So none of you can use magic?" Cana asked, still somewhat surprised by that.

"The runesmith can draw power from the runes of old," a dwarf named Akdar explained, "But there is not much else than that, and even then, there are very few runesmiths here in Zhufbar."

"That reminds me," Cana said, "Where exactly is 'Zhufbar'? I mean, I've traveled a lot, and I've never heard of such a place." With that, the dwarfs started explaining how Zhufbar was a hold of Karak Varn, one of the many "Karaks" that made up a great dwarven empire that controlled an entire mountain range in the humbly entitled "World's Edge Mountains". These were all places that Cana had never heard in her life. As she was listening, right then, it dawned on Cana. She wasn't in a different part of Ishgar, hell, she wasn't even in Earthland anymore. The portal had sent her to a completely different world.

"Gods," she muttered, rubbing her forehead as she tried to process all of that. The only thing she could think of to do was to find her guild mates. She knew that if they went through the portal too, then they must have been sent to this world as well.

"I need to find my friends," Cana said, "Where is the nearest nation populated by humans?"

"Well, the nearest, and I suppose greatest nation of men would certainly be the Empire," Akdar said, "When I was a lad, my father told me of great adventures men from the Empire would have with dwarves." Cana thought about that. While she wasn't sure about any country she'd never heard of before, she figured she didn't have any real options at this point.

"Well its a start," she said, "Now how do we get to it?"

"You would have to travel to the West," Gorik explained.

"But I at least would advise against going by the surface my dear," Fertan said with a frown, "You would have to either march through the corrupted lands directly to the West of here, or advance through the mountain passes, which are not friendly to men or women."

"Well then," Cana said, pursing her lips, "Any ideas?"

"There is always the Underway," Gorik said, "But you would need a dwarf guide in order to navigate such a maze. And I am afraid no one here is any guide."

"Perhaps, but how about a deal?" Akdar suggested, "We have to make a delivery to another Karak down the Underway. You are in a guild, yes?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of guild?"

"A mage guild," Cana explained, "Basically what we do is we take jobs that require some kind of magic in order to accomplish. This can include slaying monsters or what not."

"Well then, how about we hire you as an extra guard for the journey?" Akdar suggested, "You accompany us down the way, and in exchange, we'll give you guidance to Empire territory through the Underway." Cana thought about that for a time, swirling the ale in its mug, staring at it. Again, she wasn't sure what she should do in a given situation like this, but she did know that it was probably the only thing she _could_ do.

"Eh, its not like I've got any other choice," she said, before downing her ale in one gulp, "When do we go?"

 **Note: Sorry about how short was, but there is actually remarkably little that can be done with Cana at this point in the story. The next scene we see with Cana will definitely be a lot longer.**

 **Bare in mind, that I'm still using TW as a template. In its universe, Zhufbar is right on the outskirts of Sylvania. On a play through, I tried to launch an attack on it. It didn't go well. By the way, if people are going to get on my ass about dwarves sharing their ale, invoke the MST3K mantra: "its just a fanfic, I should really just relax".**

 **Please review. Next chapter we'll see Lucy in Lustria again. Things are certainly escalating.**


	19. Lucy III

_**Lucy III**_

It had been fairly early in the morning (or at least Lucy had assumed it was early), when Lucy's cell door was swung open by Itzaco, who hurried , just as Lucy was waking up from a thoroughly uncomfortable sleep.

"What…" she began, rubbing her eyes, only to be pulled to her feet.

"You must come!" Itzaco instructed. It wasn't so much a request as it was a command.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, as she was pushed down the halls, and back out into the open.

"Ratmen have been sighted to the East," Itzaco explained as he lead Lucy down the roads, "Lord Huihon has issued an order to face them. You are to join us."

"What?" Lucy all but snapped, "Why?"

"It has been decided that your magic must be demonstrated," Itzaco answered.

"So now you want me to join you in battle?" Lucy asked, "Isn't there an easier way to do it?"

"No," Itzaco answered bluntly. Realizing there probably wasn't a choice in the matter, Lucy sighed, and followed down the Skink down the road. Eventually they out of the city into the open, at the edge of the forest, where Lucy looked out in awe at a whole army of Lizardmen. They were of what Lucy assumed was a Saurus, with their blue scales, carrying shields with spears, along with what looked like a combination of a sword and a club. There also battalions of skinks, who had javelins and spears. She guessed there were maybe 20,000 of them. In addition, battalions of towering, crocodilian creatures that Lucy assumed were Kroxigor were standing among them. As if that wasn't enough, there were about a dozen giant, reptilian creatures that had structures on their backs, with skinks on them.

"Why are there so many?" Lucy said.

"The ratmen approach with a great host," Itzaco explained, "Our scouts estimate 50,000."

"What?!" Lucy said, "Then don't we need more?"

"One Saurus warrior is worth 20 ratmen," Itzaco answered. Lucy had heard that a lot, though she seriously had some doubts about that. As she was lead down the ranks, who were standing completely still, Lucy was going to ask who was in charge. That was when she saw it. A giant monster that looked like a lizard walking on two legs. It was hunched over, and had two grasping clawed hands. It was covered in gray scales, with an orange streak going across its sides, and its large head was filled with sharp teeth. Lucy also noticed golden bands around its tail, and a golden cap, topped with a saddle on its back, though Lucy couldn't imagine who the hell would ride such a beast.

"What is that thing?" Lucy demanded, pointing, trying not to scream. The monster turned to her, and growled.

"Its a carnosaur," Itzaco answered simply, "It is the mount of the general. Speaking of which…" Lumbering forward, was a Saurus, which was dressed in more intricate armor, and jewelry.

"This is Aka'Rar, he is in command of this army," Itzaco said, "General, this is the one the Lord wishes to learn of." The Saurus looked Lucy over slightly, his eyes turning to slits.

"You're a warmblood," he growled.

"Last I checked," Lucy said nervously. Aka'Rar glared at Lucy (though Lucy assumed it was a glare, these lizards always looked slightly angry).

"I would advise against getting in my way," he said, "My carnosaur is trained to eat all warmbloods."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lucy said, stepping out of his way, as the general walked past her, and mounted his carnosaur.

"Warriors, march," Aka'Rar roared. A series roars sounded out across the the battle lines, who all at once, started marching forward, into the jungle. Lucy turned to Itzaco, who was walking away.

"Wait, how am I supposed to get there?" Lucy asked.

"Walking."

"I don't get to ride anything?" Lucy asked.

"Well, there may be a Ripperdactyl without a rider," Itzaco offered. Lucy didn't know if he was being sarcastic, but that name sounded a lot worst than walking.

"Walking's fine," she said dejectedly, hanging her head. Itzaco then continued walking away, while Lucy walked along side the battle lines, being careful not to get in the way of the giant reptiles. They walked for what felt like a couple hours, with Lucy tempted to bring out Horologium to assist in the walking, but knew she would need to conserve her magic power for the coming battle. The giant monsters (which Lucy would later learn were called "stegadons"), marched along with the lizardmen, which were in near perfect lockstep. Looking up, Lucy could see a series of flying creatures going over head.

"This place sucks," she grumbled to herself.

"Halt!" Aka'Rar suddenly ordered, holding up his claw. The entire army stopped almost immediately. Looking around, the only thing Lucy could hear was the eerie silence.

"They come!" Aka'Rar said, "Battle formations!" With an affirming roar, all the lizards starting shifting. Lucy found herself pushed around, until they finally stopped moving, assuming an ordered line of shields.

"What's…" She didn't finish, before she noticed she had been pushed to the front line. The blonde then looked into the jungle, and tried to listen. That was when she heard the sound of what could only be described as skittering. Lucy quickly tried to go behind the battle lines, though they were too tightly packed together to do it.

"Let me through!" she cried, "I've got to…" That was when the "ratmen" army exploded out of the tree. The sight of the creatures nearly made Lucy vomit. She had assumed "ratmen" had just been some kind of slang, but they were exactly that. They were literally bipedal rats, dressed in rusty armor, and carrying equally rusty blades and spears. Worse yet, they were accompanied by _giant_ bipedal rats, almost as tall as the Kroxigor.

Pretty quickly deciding she didn't want to stay here on the front, Lucy then opted to stop trying to go through the battle lines, and instead jumped over the taurus heads as she tried to get to the rear guard. However, she didn't get far, before with a roar, the Lizardmen all charged, causing Lucy to tumble to the ground, counting herself lucky she wasn't trampled.

When she finally managed to stand up, the battle was now in full swing. The Saurus were cutting down rats left and right so quickly, Lucy realized that Itzaco was right about how tougher Suarus were to the ratmen. The Skinks were joining the fight as well, as the Kroxigor literally smashed the ratmen.

The battle went on for some time, as Lucy tried to avoid as much as it as she could. Not that she thought she couldn't do anything but it didn't seem like it was her fight. It didn't help that she really wasn't sure if she wanted to start fighting giant rats she didn't know squat about. However, when one rat jumped at her, and Lucy had to pull out her whip to bring it down. Lucy figured that at this point, she had to join the battle. With that, she quickly rifled through her keys.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" With a flash and a "moo", Taurus sprung out of the ground.

"I'm here, Ms…," the bull then stopped as he looked around, "What's going on, Ms. Lucy? Where are we?"

"Its a long story," Lucy answered, "But in nutshell the rats are our enemies, and the lizards are on our side." Fortunately, Taurus didn't ask any other questions, as he charged into battle. Lucy then decided to join the fight.

"Star Dress: Taurus!" The blonde assumed her Taurus form, managing to avoid a strike from one of the giant rats.

"Lucy Punch!" Lucy cried as she held back her fist, and slammed it into the giant rat's gut. The blow killed the monster instantly, as Lucy could feel its bones breaking under her fist.

"Whoa?" the blonde muttered, as she looked at her fists. She had struck people with that attack before, but it'd never really killed them. Though Lucy didn't have time to consider the actions fully, when another several rats came at her. Pulling out her whip, Lucy joined her Celestial Spirit and reptilian "comrades" in battle.

As the battle raged on, unbeknownst to everyone, something was watching the battle in the trees. It was a snake, looking closely at the battle, or more specifically, the Earthland mage.

Lucy panted, as she punched another giant rat away, before avoiding a blast from a rifle of all things, carried by another rat of all things. After dealing with him and looking around, Lucy could see that the battle was apparently going in the favor of the Lizardmen, but they were taking casualties from the looks of it.

"Center fall back!" Aka'Rar suddenly shouted.

"What?" Lucy cried out loud. She wasn't a strategist, but they were winning the fight apparently. But every single Lizardmen immediately did as ordered, as the center retreated, Lucy joining them. But she noticed the flanks weren't retreating. Looking over her shoulder, the rats all seemed to squeal in victory, as they charged after the "retreating" reptiles. It didn't take long for Lucy to realize what was going on.

Soon enough, Aka'Rar ordered the retreat to stop, and turned to face the rats. The rats got ready to fight, but it soon became apparent what had happened: in their eagerness, they had been completed surrounded. Lucy realized that the plan had been that if the center fell back, the rats would commit more effort to the center, allowing the flanks to surround the rats.

"Cut them down like the vermin they are," Aka'Rar ordered, as he held up his sword-club and his carnosaur charged into battle. The Saurus warriors bore down on the ratmen, and started doing exactly what Aka'Rar said. This time, Lucy didn't bother involving herself in the fight. The "battle" was so one-sided, Lucy doubted it could even be called that. The rats had no where to go as the Saurus slaughtered them.

Soon the battle was over, and when the dust finally cleared, it showed a literal mountain of bodies on the ground. Roars of victory sounded out across the Lizardmen, and Lucy wiped her brow, happy for it to be done. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Aka'Rar approaching her, his sword-club on his shoulder.

"General," Lucy said with a nod.

"You fought well, warm blood," Aka'Rar said with his own nod, "Despite your size, there is much strength in you."

"Uh, thanks," Lucy said with an awkward smile, "But it was all my magic."

"Then it is a great magic."

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Lucy said, with a sincere grin this time. She then turned to see a couple of the flying creatures landing. Itzaco then jumped off one, and approached Lucy.

"Tell me your name, warm blood," he said.

"Lucy."

"Well then, Lucy," Itzaco said, "The general was correct that you fought well. I have never seen such magic in my time."

"Well, I guess it is rare, even where I come from," Lucy said with a slight smile. She then looked over the battlefield, and noticed several holes in the ground.

"They burrowed underground," she said, "Are you going after them?"

"We would never find them in their tunnels," Aka'Rar said, "Let the serpents feast on them." Lucy wasn't sure what to think of that, but figured there wasn't anything to be done about tit. She then noticed a couple Skinks dragging up one of the ratmen, that had some slightly more elaborate armor.

"General, this is their commander," the Skink said. Aka'Rar growled, as he grabbed the commander by the throat and hoisted him up.

"Please!" the commander squeaked, "Have mercy!"

"You will make a passable sacrifice," Aka'Rar said. _Sacrifice?_ Lucy thought, not sure what she thought about that. However she didn't have much time to think about that.

"Ow!" Lucy cried, as a stinging pain shot up her leg. She looked down, and saw a bright red snake with its fangs in her ankle. With a yelp, Lucy swung her leg, releasing its grip. The snake then quickly slithered away back into the undergrowth, and as it did, Lucy could see its tail, which was split right down the middle in two.

"Stupid snake," Lucy grumbled. She then looked up, and noticed all the Lizardmen around staring at her in awe.

"What?" Lucy asked, before asking nervously, "Was it venomous?"

"That was a twin-tailed serpent," Itzaco said.

"A what now?"

"A twin-tailed serpent has chosen you," Itzaco muttered, "You have been marked by Sotek." Lucy remembered being told that Sotek was one of the Lizardmen's gods. Specifically a serpent-war god. Lucy definitely didn't like the sound of that.

"Wait a minute!" Lucy said, holding up her hands, "I'm not going to be some priestess for a snake god!"

"Look at the fur on your head," Aka'Rar said, pointing.

"Its hair," Lucy protested, as she took her hair, "Its not…" That was when she noticed something. A streak of crimson red now went through the center of her blonde hair.

"What the hell?" she asked, pulling at her hair, "Where did this come from?"

"It is as I said," Itzaco said, "The god Sotek has selected you as one of his servants. Do not neglect this gift, for it is not one Sotek loosely offers."

"This victory belongs to Sotek, so we will sacrifice this rat to him," Aka'Rar said, holding up the rat commander. With that, he gave the order for the army to return, as Lucy still held her hair, looking at her newest look.

"So now I'm a priestess of a war god that appears a snake?" she said, before sobbing, "I want to go home!"

 **Note: So Lucy has been selected by the great god of war and serpents for something. As Itzaco said, Sotek does not give his gifts lightly.**

 **This is something I've been looking forward to doing. A real, honest to goodness battle; not just a fight or skirmish, but a real battle between armies. There are going to be more of those, especially as the story picks up. I based this particular battle on the Battle of Canae, where Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca defeated Roman general Gais Varo.**

 **Something to keep in mind about this story, is that whereas in** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **, when Natsu breaths fire at people, they sometimes walk away singed. In the real world, that'd kill someone, as it would in the Warhammer world.**

 **Let's quickly take note that I'm assuming in** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **, there were no dinosaurs. To that end, Lucy does not know what dinosaurs are.**

 **Please review.**


	20. Wendy III

_**Wendy III**_

It had taken some convincing, but eventually Orion and Ariel were persuaded to allow Wendy to be sent to a place in the forest called Argwylon, where Durthu apparently dwelt. Wendy and Carla (who had taken her human form again), were now waiting to be taken to wherever that was.

"You'd expect them to be more punctual," Carla said, as she impatiently tapped her foot.

"Their elves," Wendy said, "I remember in the books Lucy would read to me sometimes, they're wise and far seeing."

"My point stands," Carla said, rolling her eyes. Wendy sighed, before looking to the sky.

"I hope the others are okay," she said. Carla looked at her before smiling.

"I wouldn't worry about them," she said, putting her hand on Wendy's shoulder, "They're all strong, I bet they can handle themselves just fine wherever they are." Wendy wanted to be as confident as Carla apparently was, but still had her worries. This was a strange place nobody knew anything about. She wasn't sure if even Natsu or Erza could aptly figure out what was going on.

It was as Wendy was thinking, that a shadow fell over them. The partners looked up, and saw possibly the last thing either expected.

"Its a…," Carla started.

"…dragon," Wendy finished. It was indeed a dragon. It had muddy green scales, and its wings were broad, and patterned in a similar way to butterfly wings. Atop its long head, were a pair of antlers, similar to a stag, and moss seemed to trail off its body. The dragon swooped down, and landed before them.

" **You are the trespassers,"** the dragon said. Wendy wouldn't have put it like that, but that may have been what she and Carla technically were.

" **It does not matter,"** the dragon said, not letting her answer **, "I have been tasked with bringing you to Argwylon."** It then lowered a wing, to allow the two to climb on.

" **Get on. The sooner this is over, the better."** Not inclined to argue, both girls climbed into the dragon's back, only having just enough time to get a good hold before it sprung into the air.

"What is your name?" Wendy asked.

" **Why does it concern you?"**

"No reason, I'm just curious."

" **It is no concern of your's, human,"** the dragon growled **, "Now do not speak to me. I have no interest speaking with trespassers."**

"Don't be so rude!" Carla said.

"Its fine," Wendy said, smiling at her friend, "Its not as if I don't understand." Though it also wasn't as if she didn't agree with Carla. Would it have killed the dragon to be slightly more polite?

After sometime of flying, they reached a large cliff face, that was dominated by a massive, if not beautiful waterfall. Crisscrossing across the waterfall were trees and branches. The dragon flew them down to the base of the waterfall, where there was a pool with a small island in the center. On that island was a massive tree with a glowing amber center.

Gathered around the shores were battalions of not just elves, but also various tree men, as well smaller humanoid figures made of wood, that reminded Wendy of figures called "dryads". At the base of the tree in the center, stood Orion, leaning on his spear. Asarith was standing on a stone int he water. Wendy smiled at him, but the Wood Elf only looked at her nervously.

"So what now?" Carla asked. Wendy didn't have time to offer an answer, as one of the tree men stood in the water, before holding up his arms.

" _Halka koth laran Athel Loren! Halka sont Argwylon! Halka Durthu!"_ With that, a chanting sounded out amongst the tree spirits, as the tree's trunk began to glow even brighter.

" _Durthu!"_

" _Durthu!"_

" _Durthu!"_ With that, Durthu pulled himself out of the tree. While Wendy had seen a number of different tree people now, Durthu in particular was something to behold. He stood a good head and shoulders taller than the other tree spirits. But what really se this apart were the massive gashes on his face and body. Half of his face looked like it had been chipped off, and a long, ugly gash went across his chest. The tree spirits all bowed their heads, and even Orion briefly nodded to Durthu, who returned it. The tree man held out one of his arms,a s a series of vines reached down, and coiled around a large branch jutting out the ground. However, when he yanked it out, it revealed a brilliant sword made out of solid amber. As he waded into the water, and approached Wendy, the Dragon Slayer had to admit she felt thoroughly intimidated. Once Durthu got there, he bent down, and looked at Wendy.

" _Elra su echkra?"_ he said, gesturing to Wendy.

"He asked who you are," Asarith translated.

"My name is Wendy Marvel," Wendy answered, before gesturing to Carla, "This is my friend, Carla." The humanoid exceed nodded at Durthu. The master of the tree spirits growled slightly.

" _Itna sakal otl?"_

"Why are you here?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Wendy said, "We came here by accident. We were with our friends in our guild, before some kind of magic vortex appeared, and pulled us into this forest."

" _Itna lo hana su?"_

"Why should I believe you?" Wendy really wasn't sure what to say in response to that. She had no real way of proving her story.

"I don't know how to prove it," Wendy said, "All I really have at this point is my word." Durthu growled at that, as he spun his sword through his hand, causing Wendy to take an instinctive step back.

" _Itna graksia Thilovakas katna lo?"_ Durthu asked.

"Why did Thilovakas insist on you meeting me?" Wendy pondered that briefly, trying to think about what may have motivated this meeting. She remembered that Thilovakas first mentioned Durthu when Wendy explained her healing magic to him. Putting two and two together, Wendy got a good idea about what this whole meeting was about.

"I can heal you." All eyes were suddenly on her.

" _Ar sca?"_ Durthu growled. Asarith did not immediately translate that, as he also stared at Wendy, until a shout from Orion got him to do it.

"He doesn't believe you."

"I'm not positive it'll work," Wendy said, "But my magic allows me to heal others."

"Wendy…," Carla said softly, grabbing her friend's shoulder, but Wendy shook it off.

"I can see your pain," the Sky Dragon Slayer said, "I've seen it before."

" _Keko zun rakna?"_ Durthu asked. Upon hearing the translation, Wendy just sighed.

"I do know pain," she said, "Perhaps not the same scale you do, but I would be willing to tray and alleviate." Durthu growled, as he looked closely at Wendy. Another tree man approached Durthu.

" _Durthu, eena sura crasna."_

" _Itna lo hana eena?"_

" _Keko sun dena."_ The two talked some more, though Wendy still couldn't understand a word they were saying (since Asarith didn't translate any of it). But whatever the debate was seemed to be annoying Durthu rather extensively, as he growled.

" _El,"_ Durthu finally said, before looking to Wendy.

"He agreed," Asarith said after a moment. Wendy had to admit she was surprised by that. She'd never thought Durthu would ever agree to such a thing. But regardless, Durthu had agreed, so Wendy began gathering her magic in her hands, before holding up. Durthu slowly lowered himself down to her level. With that, Wendy activated her healing magic.

The sight must have been truly amazing for the elves, as they watched in awe at the magic. Wendy just focused though, as she focused all her energy on Durthu. At first, it seemed that no progress was being made, but then she saw wood beginning to creep over Durthu's face and chest, closing up the massive gashes over his body.

Eventually, Wendy was done, as she collapsed back, and had to be caught by Carla.

"Don't expend so much energy like that, child!" Carla scolded.

"I'm sorry," Wendy said, before looking back the tree man. Durthu was silently for a time, before slowly he reached up to his face, stopping at first. Wendy could've sworn she saw amber tears dripping from his eyes.

" _Its gone,"_ Durthu said, now speaking English _, "The pain is finally gone."_ He looked at Wendy.

" _How?"_

"I honestly don't fully understand," Wendy said at first, before smiling, "But I don't question the gifts I have."

" _Thank you,"_ Durthu said softly _, "Thank you so much."_ Now she was certain amber tears were streaming from his face.

"I'm always happy to help," Wendy said, smiling happily. Looking around, she saw all the elves staring at awe. Even Orion had dropped his spear in shock.Durthu then gently took Wendy in his hands, and held her up in the air for all to say.

" _Let it be known, that I hereby name this girl and her comrade, to be friends of the forest,"_ Durthu proclaimed _, "They will be welcome anywhere in Athel Loren, and should any spirit, elf, or beast bring them harm, they shall face my personal retribution."_ Roars of affirmation came from the various tree spirits, as they chanted Wendy's name.

" _Wendy!"_

" _Wendy!"_

" _Wendy!"_ Wendy found it both humbling and embarrassing. Durthu then set her down. He reached into an opening in his side, and took out a piece of amber the size of a fist, and set in Wendy's hands.

" _Keep this with you always, and if ever you are in peril, you need only call, and the forest will answer,"_ Durthu promised.

"Thank you," Wendy said. That was when various spirits started gathering around her, as if being around her would give them some of her abilities. To the side, Carla just watched and sighed.

"This just made matters a lot more complicated," she said, rubbing her forehead.

 **Note: Wendy had just befriended Durthu himself, not to mention the master of the forest spirits has now been healed after eons.**

 **Something some of you may have noticed, is some recurring characters in the stories aside from the FT ones. Such as Asarith for Wendy, or Itzaco for Lucy. That is completely intentional.**

 **Please review. Next we'll see Cana. We're getting closer to the end of Part 1.**


	21. Cana III

_**Cana III**_

Cana wasn't sure what to expect when she was told of the "Underway". But at the most, she was perhaps expecting a large tunnel with a road going through it. She definitely wasn't expecting a massive tunnel so big someone could march a whole army down it, still have enough room to float an airship through, and even then still have some room left. Cana could only awe as they flew down the tunnel.

"They say it took generations to carve these paths out," Gorik said from his position in the pilot seat, "And who could not believe it?"

"Not me," Cana said, as she watched the tunnel rush past her. Said tunnel had everything from stalagmites to waterfalls. That said, the sheer size of this tunnel honestly made Cana uneasy. She was certainly glad that they were going by gyrocopter, instead of by foot. According to Gorik, it would take about twelve days to march to their destination, and it would take half that time to get there via copter.

"Just what exactly are you shipping?" Cana asked, looking back at the cargo hold. The copter they were flying could hold four people not including the pilot, with a cargo hold in the back.

"Gunpowder," Fertan said, "To Karak Norn. Once we get there, we can point you down out of the mountains, and into the Empire."

"Sounds good to me," Cana said, as she spun a card through her fingers. After she got into the Empire, she needed to think of a plan to find her friends. She had no idea how big this world was; for all she knew, someone may have been in the Empire, while another may have been on a different continent. The only thing Cana could think to do was maybe look for some work there to get a start.

Eventually, they landed for the day to rest and put more fuel in the copter, on a ledge overlooking the tunnel. Cana was leaning on a rock, drinking from a flask, staring at the ceiling. The only light aside from the fire the dwarfs had lit was this strange glowing moss that covered the ceiling. The only sounds were of water dripping, rocks occasionally tumbling, and the wind howling through the cave, which didn't make it any less unnerving. However, as she listened, there was another sound that was building on the wind.

"HUHAHU… HUHAHU… HUHAHU…" Cana sat up, looking around. At first she didn't see anything, until she saw the faint glow of fires further down the tunnel. Cana hurried back to the dwarfs, who were all standing, looking around.

"You hear it to?" Cana asked. The dwarfs all confirmed, before they hurried further down the ledge with Cana in tow. They eventually came upon an overlook, where Cana saw what looked like a fort. It was ramshackle, looking like it had been thrown together by a drunk guy in a hurry (don't ask how Cana knew how that looked). There was a carved face over the wall that looked like a massive fanged monster. The chanting and lights were coming from the fort.

"Greenskins," Gorik said, spitting on the ground.

"What're 'Greenskins'?" Cana asked.

"Bloodthirsty barbarians who exist only to spread destruction and war," Akdar explained.

"Have they seen us?"

"If they had, we'd definitely know," Fertan said.

"Look at that symbol," Cana said, pointing. Hanging over the fort's gate, was a banner that what looked like a snapped bone with a pair of jaws.

"I've heard of that symbol," Gorik said, "This tribe is called the Bone Bitas."

"Bone Biters?" Cana asked. Maybe that wasn't really what Gorik said, but that was what she heard.

"This is strange," Gorik said, "Not that Greenskins have invaded our tunnels, but that this tribe is here. The dwarf who told me of them was from Karak Azul. This tribe shouldn't be this far North."

"Where they should be doesn't matter, seeing as they're here," Akdar said, "We are not even remotely equipped to battle a single orc, let alone a whole tribe."

"We need to go back to Zhufbar, and contact the king to send an army here," Fertan said, "We need to leave now." The dwarfs started to go away, but Cana kept watching, thinking. She reached into her bag, and pulled out her deck of cards, and rifled through them.

"What are you doing, girl?" Gorik asked.

"How many 'greenskins' or whatever, do you think there are down there?" Cana asked.

"If I had to guess, maybe a couple hundred. A thousand at the absolute most."

"Well, we at Fairy Tail have gone against worse odds," Cana said, before she started sliding down the ledge. She ignored the calls of the dwarfs, as she dropped to ground level.

She carefully shifted across the hall, to where the Greenskin fort was, as the smell quickly began to set in; Cana wasn't sure how to describe it, but it nearly blew Cana all the way back to Zhufbar (she shuddered at how it would've smelled to Natsu, Gajeel, or Wendy). As she did, she looked around the surrounding and overhanging area, considering her options, knowing that there was no way she could take any a small army on her own. She once heard of an S-Class job Erza had taken where she dealt with a band of ogres that she beat in a cave by causing a cave in. With that in mind, Cana slowly advanced on the fort, looking up at the various stalactites that hung over the fort. That gave her a quick idea, as she pulled out a couple of her cards. She then threw several cards, which floated up, and attached themselves to the stalactites. However, Cana also had a feeling that wouldn't enough to bring down the entire fort. With that in mind, she looked around the rest of the fort, looking for any place she could undermine it.

As she moved through, she heard more chanting, as well as sounds of fighting and laughing. In a strange way, it reminded Cana of Fairy Tail, only it smelled a lot worse. Though Cana was reminded of a time where Lucy and Natsu went on a mission together and Lucy got sprayed by some monster. Natsu didn't go into her house for some time after that.

Eventually, Cana placed what she thought were enough cards along the foundations. With that she started fall back. However, as she did, she had to dive into hiding behind a rock, as a huge lumbering form sauntered past her. The figure had green skin (fittingly), was at least eight feet tall, and had arms literally as thick as some tree trunks. It had beady eyes and tusks, and was dressed in ramshackle armor. It was carrying a crude sword that looked more like a cleaver than anything else. Cana imagined it may have been an orc. Deciding not to challenge him, Cana let him pass. However, as he did, the orcs topped and sniffed the air. It then growled, as it looked around, facing Cana's direction. Cana held her breath as she stayed hidden, as the orc approached her rock. Cana instinctively pulled out one of her remaining cards. Eventually, he got far to close for comfort, and Cana decided to literally play her trump card, and snapped her fingers.

The cards she left released their magic energy, creating massive explosions that resonated across the stalactites, which promptly fell. At the same time, the foundations were destroyed, and the fort began to collapse on itself.

The orc that had been looming over Cana was distracted by the explosion. Seizing that as an opportunity, Cana leapt, and kicked the orc in the schnoz. While it didn't do that much, it did stun him, allowing Cana to throw a lightning card at him, shocking him, and either knocking him unconscious, or killing him, Cana didn't stop to check.

Taking a breath, Cana looked up at the collapsed fort. As the Greenskins scattered, Cana noticed one of them, that looked a bit like a goblin lagging behind. Deciding she needed some information, Cana quickly advanced on the goblin and grabbed it.

"Alright greenie," Cana said, picking up the goblin by the collar, "Let's hear what you're doing here."

"Please don' 'urt me!" the goblin begged, as it cowered before the brown haired girl, "A'm just a slave!"

"Please don't insult my intelligence like that," Cana said, holding up a glowing card, "Now I'm going to ask again, what are you doing here? I heard you're from the South."

"We're were," the goblin answered, "But some gits chased us away!"

"What're you talking about?"

"Dey called 'demselves da Iron Choppas," the goblin explained, "Dey used ta be a small tribe in da South that we often beat on. But den dey got demselves a new war chief. Dey destroyed our ol' fort, and made us come here." Cana narrowed her eyes. The goblin may have been lying, but Cana didn't really care, as she dropped the creature.

"Get out of here, you little parasite," she said. The goblin didn't need to be told twice, as it hurried away. With that, Cana headed back to where the dwarfs were.

"Alright," Cana said, "I got them to go away, but I bet they'll be back. One of the…" She stopped as she saw the dwarfs staring a her in shock and amazement.

"Look, that was probably mostly luck," Cana said, jerking her thumb at the ruined fort, "I don't think I could do that with anything bigger."

"You just pulled down a greenskin outpost," Gorik said, "That is far from a small accomplishment."

"How were you able to do it?" Fertan asked.

"Its my magic," Cana said, holding one of her cards, "These cards are magically charged, and I can release the magical energy within them to create magical explosions. But again, I think it was most likely just some luck."

"It doesn't matter, we must show this to the king!" Akdar declared, "Such power should be demonstrated to him."

"That's really not…" But the dwarfs were already gathering their things, getting ready to start heading back.

"I guess I won't be making it to the Empire anytime soon," Cana said, rubbing the back of her head.

 **Note: So Cana managed to take out an orc fort.**

 **Bare in mind, orc forts (assuming they don't occupy dwarf ones), aren't that sturdy. I don't think it would take much to tear them down, and Cana's cards have shown themselves to be pretty up. And yes, gyrocopters are primarily war machines, but its far from a stretch to assume that the dwarves would never consider using them for non-combat purposes.**

 **Please review. Next chapter, we'll see Erza.**


	22. Erza III

_**Erza III**_

"Again!"

"Ya!"

"Again!"

"Ya!"

"Again!"

"Ya!" Erza watched as the man continued practicing their thrusts, using their farming equipment. This may have been the absolute most basic form of training, but it was all Erza could do for the time. One had to start somewhere, and what better place to start but at the basics? And they were making progress; she wouldn't want them in an actual battle, but they were getting there.

As for the count, he had been quiet in his castle, and no one had come out to challenge Erza. Glaring towards the castle, the scarlet haired knight knew it would only be a matter of time before something new came to challenge her.

"Lady Erza." Erza turned to see Fleur approaching her, carrying a jug of water, which Erza sipped from.

"Thank you," she said. Fleur smiled at her, but the smile faded, as she looked towards the training men.

"Will they be enough?" she asked, "What about when the beasts attack the village?"

"Even if they are not ready, I will defend you and these people. You have my word." Fleur nodded, but still looked nervous.

"However, it would certainly help if I understood what sort of threats you face," Erza said, "What are the beasts that stalk you?"

"Well…," Fleur trailed off, "I do not truly know. I only know what I have heard rumors of."

"Well, surely you might people who have seen or encountered such creatures." Fleur was silent, as she averted her eyes. Erza blinked, before it dawned on her.

"Have you ever left this village?" she asked, and when Fleur shook her head, she said, "So not only do these nobles steal your livelihood, but they keep you bound to the land, unable to leave or see more?"

"Why would we need to leave?" Fleur asked, "We have everything we would ever want here." Erza once heard something similar from an old slave in the Tower of Heaven. A life of subjugation was all he ever knew, and while these people didn't seem to be slaves, they were certainly close enough to them.

Erza suddenly heard rampant talking amongst the men, and when she turned to yell at them, she saw what they were pointing two. A figure was approaching from the distance, but as he got closer, Erza was able to identify him better. It was another knight, like the ones from before. But this one was obviously very different. He had thoroughly ornate armor with multiple colors, with what looked like a stylized cup on the top the helmet. As he approached, all the peasants bowed before him. Erza didn't have to guess why they were doing it, but she of course didn't do it herself. The knight was being followed by a young man also in armor, but it was far less ornate. He was likely a squire, of something like that.

"Hail!" the knight called holding up his hand as he came near.

"Hello," Erza answered, narrowing her eyes, as she took a position in between him and the people.

"I am Sir Charles of the Order of Grail Knights," the knight said as he dismounted his steed, "And this is my squire, Daniel." The young man waved slightly.

"I am Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail," Erza answered, "Why are you here?"

"I was sent here by his Majesty, King Louen Leoncoeur." Erza heard murmurings about the king, but she didn't care.

"What of it?" Erza said, "I am no subject of this king."

"So I gathered," Sir Charles said as he approached Erza, "Are you a mercenary?"

"Something like that," the mage answered.

"Well, word came that Count Castil had been 'viciously attack', but a red headed witch. I take you're said 'witch'."

"And if I am?" Erza could hear what sounded like chuckling through the helmet.

"He described you as being hulking and monstrous, like a red orc," he said, "I knew he was exaggerating, but would never had imagined such a beautiful woman."

"Stow your small talk, and tell me why you're here," Erza all but ordered. Charles seemed surprised by such a command at first, and Daniel opened his mouth, only to be silenced by a wave.

"The count issued a formal protest to the Royarch himself," he explained, "To that end, his Majesty sent me here to deal with the rogue."

"So I'm a rogue now, am I?" Erza asked, "I suppose for the crime of threatening the noble. Because if such is the case, let me say I was well within my right to teach him a lesson."

"Frankly, I agree with you," Charles said, "The count was being thoroughly unreasonable."

"Unreasonable?" Erza said, not bothering to hide the rage in her voice, "You call trying to strike innocent children 'unreasonable'? You call nearly starving your people 'unreasonable'?" The knight sighed slightly.

"Please understand," he said, 'We cannot have the nobility fuming over slights like these. If you were to perhaps leave, I'd be willing to pay you, and just say I drove you away. It would solve the issue then and there."

"And leave these people to the mercy of a tyrant?" Erza responded, "Not likely." Charles sighed again, before he gestured. Daniel then hurried over with a sword, which Charles drew, after which he put on his shield, which had a stylized dragon on it.

"I give you this last chance to depart," he said, "If you do not, I will have to forcibly remove you." Erza summoned a sword into each of her hands, which startled the knight and his squire.

"You are free to try."

"You should know using magic in a duel is beyond disgraceful," Charles said.

"So I won't use it. I won't need it anyway." Charles didn't respond that time, as he pointed his sword at Erza, who did the same. The two circled each other for a time. Before Charles made the first move.

The Grail Knight swung his sword at Erza, who managed to parry it. She swung up the free sword, which the Grail Knight blocked with his shield. Pushing her back, the knight thrust his sword, which Erza parried with both her swords. Quickly countering, Erza swung up her armored foot to kick, only for it to glance off Charle's armor, causing her to retreat.

Taking it up a notch, Erza flipped through the air until she was behind the knight. Charles blocked a strike with his shield, and spun around swinging his sword. Erza ducked, though the knight kicked a couple of her hairs. She then swung up both blades, but were glanced against the shield. Spinning around, Erza practically danced with her blades, moving at such a pace she was almost a blur. But to Erza's surprise, each strike was blocked by the Grail Knight.

"Take this!" Erza said, leaping into the air, and spinning around with her blades. Charles had to block with shield again, but the force pushed him back still. Grinding to a halt, he charged Erza, who managed to shift out of the way, and swung her sword, but the blades glanced off the armor. With that, Erza fell back again.

"You're a skilled warrior," Charles said.

"As are you," Erza said with a nod.

"If that is the case, I must not hold back anymore." With that, Charles held up his sword, and to Erza's surprise, it ignited.

"I take it magic weapons do not count as using magic?" Erza said with a glare.

"Magic tools are useless if not in the hands of a skilled warrior," Charles answered, "The magic itself is irrelevant." Erza was tempted to switch out her weapons, but she wasn't going to use her magic in this fight. She had to win this fight with her physical prowess, not her re-quip magic. With that, she jumped at Charles again, who blocked her blade with his shield, and swung her sword, which Erza dodged. The fire didn't do much for her; all the fighting with Natsu had given her pretty high heat threshold.

As she fell back, Charles managed to get the drop on her, as he swung his flaming sword. Erza grunted, as a shot of pain went up her face. She touched the side of her cheek, where a small nick had been made.

Erza ducked the strike and thrust her elbow into Charles' armpit. The force of it loosened his grip on his sword just enough for Erza to strike his hand and make him drop his blade. Not giving him time to gather his thoughts, Erza struck him in the face with the hilt of her sword. This stunned the Grail Knight, which gave the scarlet knight an opportunity, as she knocked the shield out of his hand.

"Sir Charles!" Daniel called. Erza then thonked the knight in the helmet again, before kicking him in the chest. The force knocked Charles to the ground, and before he could get up, Erza kicked his helmet off, revealing close-cropped hair, with a cleanly shaven head, with a scar running from his temple all the way to his chin. Erza put her sword to his throat.

"You are defeated," she said, "Yield."

"I yield," Charles said, holding up his hands. Erza then took a step back, and planted her sword in the ground. All around her, the people whispered in shock and awe. Apparently no one had ever defeated a Grail Knight in single combat.

"Please," Charles said, rising to his knees, and spreading his arms in supplication, "Take my life."

"What? Why?" Erza asked.

"I have been dishonored," Charles said, "I cannot live with this dishonor. Please end my life, so that I may die with honor." Erza thought about that for a time, getting an idea in the process.

"No," she said, as she sheathed her sword, "I'm not going to claim your life. Instead, I claim your service."

"What?"

"Your life belongs to me now," Erza said, "You wish to regain your honor? Perform an act of true honor, and join me in protecting these people." Charles looked surprised by that, before Erza offered him a hand, which he took, and was pulled up by.

"You have my word," he said, as he picked up his sword, and offered it to Erza, who took it, nodding her thanks.

"Send word to Couronne," Charles said to his squire, "This cannot go untold." Daniel affirmed the command, before he mounted his horse, and hurried off.

That night, Charles was amongst the people, who had hoarded around him like some sort of god. Erza had excused herself, and was catching her breath outside of the village. She had barely been here a week, and already she was causing trouble. As if to makes things potentially worse, she was going to be earning the attention of the king of this country himself.

As she watched the sun vanish beneath the horizon, a flash seized her attention. Looking around, she noticed something. It was a figure on horseback, that had an otherworldly green glow about it. From what Erza could see, it was wearing some kind of armor. Finding herself drawn towards the figure, Erza started running in his direction. However, as she got closer, a green mist set in over the hill, and when it cleared, Erza was alone.

"What was that?" she muttered, staring into the distance.

 **Note: Not only has Erza earned the respect of a Grail Knight, but now she's apparently seen a figure in green. You can probably guess who that is.**

 **Based on lore I've read, the Grail Knights are true beacons of chivalry, because the Lady does not gift that title loosely. To that end, they do legitimately care about the common people as well, but they are unfortunately not numerous enough to do enough. Also, they are sometimes somewhat ignorant of the suffering of the people.**

 **Please review. Next chapter'll see Mirajane with the Dark Elves. Five chapters until the end of Part I. The chapters up until then will be released daily.**


	23. Mirajane III

_**Mirajane III**_

When Mirajane woke up, her head was still spinning. Looking around didn't help her orientation. She was in a room made out of shining black stone. Statues of armed figures lined the walls. Mira was lying in a bed with steel colored sheets, and a canopy of the same color. The softness of the bed was off-putting compared to the rest of the room.

Mira pulled herself out of the bed, and when she did, she noticed that her clothes had been changed. She was now wearing a long, black split dress with black shoes. She was thoroughly disturbed by the notion that some of these elves had undressed her.

Noticing a balcony, Mira checked to see if this was a possible escape route, only to realize that the place was caged in. The balcony itself gave Mira a vast view of the city, as well as a good position to hear the sounds of torment and slavery, which made the Fairy Tail mage feel nauseous.

"Ah, you are awake." Mirajane whirled around to see Malekith coming through the door. He was still dressed in his armor with his cape. At his hip was his sword. Immediately, Mira took her battle stance.

"Don't bother," the king said, waving his hand dismissively, and gesturing to his sword, "Destroyer can nullify any form of magic, even an unknown form like yours." Mirajane started taking further steps back. Those bars on the balcony would probably break if they met her Satan Soul…

"You could try and escape," Malekith said, "But where would you go?"

"I…"

"You are clearly not familiar with this nation, and Naggaroth is naught but ice and waste. You would freeze, or be eaten by hydras."

"What do you want from me?" Mira asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

"What would that accomplish?" Malekith asked, spreading his arms, "A woman of your capability deserves far better."

"So you are going to torture me?"

"Many in my court are arguing for that exactly. But I think you may have a use yet."

"Will you just get to the point, already?" Mirajane demanded, not breaking her battle stance.

"I told them that I am taking you as my personal slave," Malekith explained, "But I would much rather take you as a willing servant."

"Why would I ever serve you?" Mirajane demanded. Malekith just chuckled as he folded his arms behind his back, as he strolled up to one of the statues.

"Do you know who this is?" he asked.

"I couldn't care less."

"His name was Kalsius," Malekith explained, "He was a general in my personal army. In return for his loyalty, he was given gifts. But he became greedy, and started demanding more gifts. Soon his demands became too excessive." He didn't need to explain anymore, since Mira was certainly able to figure out the end.

"Is there a point to this story?" Mirajane asked.

"The point is I can give gifts in exchange for service," Malekith said.

"What could you possibly give me?"

"Forgive me, but remind me of your goal in coming to Naggarond."

"I seek to free the people you keep in chains," Mirajane said firmly, "Slavery is an abomination."

"Well then, for every day you serve me, I will release ten slaves." That caught Mira off guard, and after hearing it a second time, she narrowed her eyes.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" she asked.

"I swear in the name of my father, the great Aenarion," Malekith said, "If my word is broken, then let the gods lay punishment upon me." Mira wasn't sure how sincere that was, but it seemed sincere, and though it probably wasn't, it was the best she could maybe hope for.

"Very well," Mirajane said, "I will serve you, but I won't kneel, and give you an oath of loyalty."

"I would be disappointed if you did," Malekith said with a voice that sounded so kind, that Mira knew it couldn't possibly be that.

"I shall give you a chance to rest," he said with a respectful nod, "I hope you are comfortable."

"Yes, I'm completely comfortable in this stone fortress with bars over the window." Malekith just laughed, as he took his leave, but he briefly turned, and looked at her, and while Mira couldn't see his face, his eyes looked like they were smiling.

"For what its worth, I don't think you need to be told what will happen if you decide to escape." No, Mira certainly did not.

 **Note: Sorry about the length, but I could only do so much in this particular chapter.**

 **If you wonder why Malekith would be wiling to release slaves, let explain quickly. In his mind, any slaves that are lost, will be promptly replaced by further raids. Also, he said that he'd free them, not that he'd escort them to safety. At any rate, a super-powered demon girl is way more useful longterm for Malekith than any slave. on that note, I'm approaching Malekith from an understanding of the Warhammer wiki, but there really isn't that much about this personality, but I'm going to making more own details concerning him. I'm not going to spoil the future of the story for you, though.**

 **Please review. Next chapter we'll check in with Gray. We're four chapters short of the end of Part I.**


	24. Gray III

_**Gray III**_

It had taken about half a day worth a walking before the battalion made it back to Talabheim. Privately, Gray wished he had traveled alone, considering it may have been quicker without the marching soldiers. But when he arrived at the city, he was beyond awed.

When they were approaching the city, Gray could see what looked like massive walls over the tree line. But then he got closer, and he realized they _were_ massive walls. Apparently the city had been built into a crater, with the walls having various alcoves across it, which Gray figured were gun ports. They approached a fort that had a walls maybe twenty feet tall, with series of towers, along with a portcullis. Guards armed with what looked like rifles paced the walls. As they went through it, the only way in seemed to be a long tunnel into the city.

After going through the tunnel, Gray was awed by the entrance to the city. The way up into the city proper (which was absolutely massive), the way through the gate, which was another portcullis, was framed by massive walls. If anyone tried to invade the city, they'd probably get blown to pieces by the soldiers on the walls.

The captain lead Gray through the city, which was filled with people bustling around selling their wears. Soldiers carrying halberds, as well as what looked like rifles marched through the city in formation. Soon they passed what Gray figured as the town square, where there was a golden statue of a crowned man carrying a hammer.

"Who is that?" Gray asked, pointing at the statue. At first, Olaf looked at him in shock, but then apparently remembered Gray wasn't from the Empire.

"That's Sigmar, our first Emperor," Olaf said, "One day he left into the mountains, where he ascended into godhood. I'll admit, I've never been a devotee of Sigmar myself, but I will not deny what he accomplished, and what he is." Gray whistled. He remembered hearing about how Acnologia was originally a human who turned into a dragon; maybe something like that happened with this Sigmar guy.

"Come, we must speak with the count," Olaf said, as he lead Gray further into the city.

"So aside from its founding, what can you tell me about the Empire?" Gray asked.

"What exactly are you curious about?"

"I don't know, the government I guess?" Gray asked with a shrug.

"Well," Olaf said, "As you might guess, the ruler of the Empire is the Emperor. It is divided into multiple separate provinces ruled by counts, like the one present here."

"So the count's sort of like a governor then?" Gray asked.

"Not necessarily," Olaf said, "Count Feuerbach rules the lands on his own authority, with proper deference to the Emperor. The rest could be said for the other counts." So it was so much a true empire, as it was a federation of different provinces. _Doesn't seem like that efficient a government_ Gray thought, but he figured it was best to keep it to himself.

"How many emperors have there been?" Gray asked.

"Oh, I'm not sure, a couple dozen perhaps," Olaf answered, "There was a point where we had four emperors at once. I'll admit, I do not envy the counts. When the election comes around, I can only imagine the politics the counts must deal with."

"Election? What does that mean?"

"The title is not dynastic," Olaf explained, "Rather, upon the Emperor's death, the Electorate gathers to elect a new Emperor." That sounded even less efficient. Gray heard countries outside of Fiore which had elections, but he'd never actually seen one in process. Frankly, it seemed to make things overly complicated. As they were talking, they came up to what looked like a castle, at the back of the city.

"Alright," Gray said, gesturing, "Let's go talk with this guy."

"Now be warned, the count can be rather…. temperamental. I would consider my words when speaking with him." Gray made a mental note of that, as he was lead in, and down the hall. Soon enough they got to a throne room, that had various tapestries, animal skins, and shields decorating the walls. At the end was a throne, that had the same symbol that was on Olaf's breastplate. Aside from a few men in robes that Gray knew were advisers, there was nobody, until someone came out of a door to the side.

"Presenting Count Helmut Feuerbach!" an announcer said. From the same door, in walked a tall man with a thick brown beard, and short brown hair. He wore a large hat that had a feather in it. He promptly sat in the throne, and looked at Gray, as the captain fell to one knee before him. There was a silence for a second, as everyone apparently waited for the count to speak.

"Who the fuck is this?" the count eventually asked, gesturing at Gray.

"A wanderer I found to the South, your Excellency," Olaf said.

"My name is Gray Fullbuster," Gray introduced.

"Speak when spoken to outsider," Count Feuerbach spat. Gray glared at him, but he was ignored.

"So what does he matter?"

"He is a wizard, Count. He wields Ice Magic." That got some of the advisers talking in surprise.

"Ice Magic?" Feuerbach asked, "Is he of Kislev?"

"No, he is apparently from a distant country." The count frowned, as he looked at Gray.

"So tell me boy, where are you from?"

"A country called Fiore," Gray answered.

"Never heard of it," Feuerbach said. _Of course he didn't_ Gray grumbled in his head.

"Let us see your magic," Feuerbach said, gesturing. Gray promptly obliged as he clenched his fists together, and used his magic to create a morning star made out of ice. That caused a series of awed whisperings around the court, and even the count leaned forward in surprise.

"Amazing!" he said, "You can create ice out of nothing!"

"Well, its a bit more complicated than that," Gray said.

For the next hour or so, Gray was pressed with questions by the count about where he was from, and what he could do. Many of the questions he was asked were asked multiple times, but Gray managed to keep his frustration down. Eventually, Feuerbach either got bored or ran out of questions, because he departed, allowing Gray to do the same with Olaf.

"I was worried, but I suppose you're magic put him in a good mood," Olaf said, as he lead Gray back out of the castle.

"Yeah that's all well and good, but I need to find my friends," Gray said, "Where could wizards go to get work or something?" Olaf paused as he thought some.

"You may want to start with the College of Magic."

"The what now?"

"It is a great place of learning for those in the Empire with magical prowess," Olaf explained, "Many wizards and mages gather there to hone their abilities. If you are looking for other wizards, that is the place to be. It is based in the Imperial City of Altdorf."

"Well, I guess Altdorf it is then," Gray said, "I'll leave tomorrow."

"That is inadvisable."

"Why?"

"It takes five days by the road to get to the capital," Olaf said, "You would have to march through the forest a great distance. I would advise waiting a couple days."

"Why? I thought we took out the Beastmen," Gray said.

"That was just one branch of the tribe. According to scouts, the tribe is on the march through the province, though we have no idea where exactly they are. They should have passed out of Talabecland within three days, two if they have somewhere to be; assuming they pass through the towns, maybe four or five." Gray sighed, as he rubbed the back of his head, knowing Olaf was right.

"So, what do you guys do to pass the time here?"

 **Note: So Gray's now going to Altdorf. Gray seems to be having a relatively easier time than his guild mates. At least he's not being pulled into wars, feuds, or prisons.**

 **Gray's story will naturally progress the slowest, mostly because of where his travels will take him. Not to mention, compared to some of his comrades who are either in a place ruled by dinosaurs, undead pharaohs, or forest spirits, he's in the most "normal" place.**

 **From what I've read, Count Feuerbach of Talabheim is known for his throughly bad temper. I tried to represent that, but the lore I've read wasn't particularly descriptive beyond that, so I had to do some guessing.**

 **Please review. Juvia's coming next. Three chapters to the end of Part I.**


	25. Juvia III

_**Juvia III**_

Since the only source of light Juvia had was her small window, it was difficult for her to tell the time. She generally had to guess by how bright or dark it was. Since she last saw him, Rahtas hadn't appear, not that Juvia cared, she wasn't necessarily craving to see an undead mummy again. However that quickly changed.

Juvia was lying on the floor, spinning water through her fingers, thinking about Gray, when the door suddenly opened, and several Tomb Guard hurried in. Before the Water Mage could ask anything, she was pulled out of the prison, and into open. At the steps of the palace, Rahtas was waiting.

"What is this all about?" Juvia asked.

"You are here on the request of King Settra," Rahtas said, "You have a task to complete."

"What is it?"

"I shall let our king explain it. Now follow me." Seeing no other option, Juvia did as she was told. She was lead through the city which Juvia was still thoroughly impressed by. Towering obelisks, statues and fortresses littered the city, which made Juvia wonder just what this kingdom might have been like when it was alive. Eventually, she was lead to the banks of the massive river that she had followed into the city. Standing at the bank was Settra, with a battalion of Tomb Guard, as well as several more Tomb Priests.

"Good, our guest is here," Settra said, looking towards Juvia.

"What is this all about?" Juvia asked.

"Purify the river," Settra ordered bluntly, pointing with his blade to the churning, red water. Juvia was silent, as she looked at Settra in surprise.

"What?" she eventually asked, "You want me to clean this river."

"Did I stutter or something? You do have Water Magic, yes?"

"Yes, and while I have used my magic to purify water before, I've never done it with a whole river."

"Well, you will be doing it now."

"What if Juvia says no?" Settra was silent for a time, before he pulled his weapon out of the sand, slowly approached her, and held the blade to her throat.

"I will dismember you, piece by piece," he said. To demonstrate his point, he left a small knick on her throat.

"You won't kill me," Juvia said, "You need me."

"Not necessarily," Settra said, "I could simply kill you now and then have you resurrected later. That would probably accomplish a comparable goal." Juvia was taken aback by that, as she took a step back, only to be blocked by the Tomb Guard.

"I would much prefer though, for you to do this willing," Settra said, "But the decision is your's." Juvia clenched her teeth, as she considered her options. She had two: do as Settra instructed, or make a break for it. If she tried to do the latter, one of three things would happen: she'd escape into the desert with nowhere to go, she'd be captured and put back in prison, or she'd be killed and resurrected by Settra. None of those three options were particularly enticing.

"Juvia will try," Juvia said, "But I can't guarantee anything." Settra then stepped out of the way, and gestured to the water, which Juvia approached. She took off her court, before bending down, and sticking her hand into it

"Gah!" On reflex, she recoiled. The water literally stung. That was definitely a first for her. But she'd experienced worse, so she clenched her teeth again, and stuck her hand back in the water, muscling through the pain. Channeling her magic energy into the water, the area around her began to glow. Focusing her energy more, the glow spread further, until it spread out across the river.

With a cry, Juvia yanked her arm out of the water, pulling some of the red liquid with her, as the glow rippled across the river. Exhausted, she fell back, only for someone to catch her. She was surprised when she saw it was Settra. But the king wasn't looking at her, rather, he was looking at the water. Juvia looked at the river, and to her amazement, from where she was, blue water was rippling out. Against Juvia's expectations, she had purified the river.

Settra gently set Juvia in the sand, as he slowly walked to the river. Looking around, Juvia saw several of the priests and guards had fallen to their knees, and Juvia could've sworn they were slightly. Even Settra fell to his knees before the now pristine river.

"If I could shed tears, they would be streaming like the river," he said, as he put his withered hand into the water, before he suddenly stumbled back in surprise.

"My king!" one of the guards said, hurrying forward.

"I… I… I felt that," Settra said, staring at his hand, "For countless millennia, all I have been able to feel is dryness and the heat. But to finally feel the coolness of the river…. The gods are truly smiling on Nehekhara this day." Soon the guards and priests were gathering at the river to be able to feel the coolness of the river. Settra himself, offered a hand to Juvia, and he pulled her up.

"There I nothing I can do repay you for this gift," he said, "But you have done more than enough to earn a place in my personal court."

"Um… thank you?" Juvia asked, all around unsure about everything that was happening. Settra then promptly returned to wade back into the river. As Juvia stood their in silence, Rahtas passed her, apparently intent on going to the river as well.

"I have to admit girl," he said, "That was beyond amazing."

"Juvia honestly isn't sure what she did."

 **Note: Juvia managed to purify the Great River. I'd say that's an accomplishment in of itself, but she's also earned the respect and regard of Settra himself.**

 **As you can maybe guess, Rahtas is starting to fill a rule comparable to Izatco for Lucy.**

 **Let it be said that the Tomb Kings are my second favorite faction, after the Lizardmen. I hope they come to Total War soon. So you might have to expect a little bias on my part in the future.**

 **Please review. Next chapter we'll be going back to Ulthuan. Two chapters until the end of Part I.**


	26. Natsu IV

_**Natsu IV**_

Suranos eventually brought Natsu and Happy to a city he called Lothern. It was a city filled with white towers and spires, which both the Dragon Slayer and exceed were thoroughly impressed by. The dragon, however, seemed to be flying towards one particularly massive spire, that had a prominent platform on it (Natsu imagined it had been made with dragons in mind). Suranos landed on the platform, allowing Natsu to slide off, Happy still holding onto him.

When Natsu looked around, he noticed three elves approaching him. The one at head was wearing golden armor with red details, that reminded Natsu of phoenixes and flames. He wore a massive helmet with golden wings, and a red plume. Beside him, was another elf in blue and gold armor wearing a helmet with a crescent, and an elf in red and white armor.

" **I am Suranos of the High Star,"** the dragon introduced **, "Am I speaking with the Phoenix King?"**

"I am Finubar the Seafarer, Prince of Eataine, and Phoenix King of all Ulthuan," the elf introduced, "This is Prince Tyrion, and Lord Teclis." The two elves behind him both nodded in respect.

"We are truly honored, Lord Suranos," the elf in red armor, Tyrion, said, "My twin and I heard stories told of you when we were children."

"To think we would live to see the day that dragons filled the skies of Ulthuan again," the elf in blue, Teclis, said. Suranos nodded, before looking towards Natsu, who casually strolled forward.

" **This is Natsu Dragneel,"** the dragon said **, "It was through his power that we were stirred."**

"Yo!" Natsu said, waving at the king and his aides with a big grin. Happy just waved also. Finubar was silent for a time, as he looked over Natsu.

"A human?" he asked, "A human was the one who gave off that strange power?"

"Yep, that was me!" Natsu said, jerking his thumb at himself. The elves stared at him in surprise.

" **If you are to doubt his word, then you would also have to doubt mine,"** Suranos said plainly.

"Do not mistake our silence for doubt, Lord Suranos," Tyrion said, "We are merely surprised that a human of all creatures managed to awake one dragon, let alone them all. It seems so strange."

"Does it now, my brother?" Teclis said, as he approached Natsu, "Feel his aura. It is quite akin to that of a dragon."

"That's because I'm a Dragon Slayer! I was raised by a dragon!"

"Now _that_ I do doubt," Teclis said, "But regardless, we should celebrate this accomplishment, which we do apparently owe to this… Natsu."

"Don't forget about me!" Happy said, "I carried him up the mountains."

"What in Asuryan's name is that thing?" Finubar said, as he frowned.

"This is Happy, my partner." Teclis, intrigued, came up to Happy, rubbing his chin.

"A cat that flies? Even I have never seen this."

"I am not actually a cat," Happy admitted, "I'm an exceed."

"How interesting, I have never head of an 'exceed'," Teclis answered, "I would study you if you were to allow me." Happy seemed to think about that actually for a time.

"Throw in some fish and you've got a deal!"

"Come, let us go inside, so we may discuss this further," Finubar gestured. He lead the group into the tower, to where there was a table ringed by chairs. Suranos simply moved his position on the tower, and stuck his head in through a window. Finubar took his seat at the head of the table, while the others took their seats. Happy just stood on the table.

"So, tell me what happened," Finubar said to Natsu.

"Well," Natsu said, rubbing his head, "I was told there were dragons in this kingdom, and I decided to go looking for them. So I went into the mountains with Happy, where we found Suranos sleeping. After I tried waking him up, I used my Dragon Slaying Magic. That set out some kind of wave."

"No doubt the wave we felt here," Teclis said.

"Next thing I know, I'm flying over the land on Suranos' back." Finubar was silent, as he tapped a finger on his arm rest.

"Throughout the ages, many have tried to stir the dragons from their hibernation, and very few have succeeded in full," he said, before looking to Teclis, "Lord Teclis, have you heard of such magic?"

"Never, my king. All I can surmise, is that it allows a human to harness the power of a dragon."

"That would truly be a great ability," Tyrion said, folding his arms, "And you say a dragon taught you this magic?"

"Yep."

"It seems somewhat odd that a dragon would teach someone the means by which to slay them." Natsu opened his mouth to answer, but remembered what little Igneel had told him about his plan.

"Its a long story," he eventually said.

"Of that I don't doubt," Tyrion said.

"It cannot be overstated what this could potentially mean," Finubar said, "The dragons have returned to Ulthuan. This could very easily be the start of something."

" **And what sort of thing would that be?"** Suranos asked, arching an eye crest. Finubar was about to answer, when the door opened, and a servant made his way in (after briefly stopping and gawking at the dragon).

"My king!"

"This better be important," Finubar said, glaring at the servant, who fell to one knee.

"Word has just come from the city," the servant said, "A child has just been born!" To Natsu, that didn't sound that amazing, but the way the elves reacted, it must've been something amazing. Even Suranos seemed somewhat surprised by that, the way his eyes widened ever so slightly.

"There hasn't been a child born in this city for hundreds of years!" Tyrion said.

"I saw no omen of this!" Teclis said, standing up. Natsu looked at Finubar, who seemed to be unable to find his words.

"What exactly's going on?" he asked, "There are babies everywhere in the town I'm from."

"Do you not understand what this means?" Finubar said looking at Natsu, "The dragons have returned, children are being born… life is returning to Ulthuan! Because of your actions!"

"Wait, I still don't really know what I did," Natsu said, "Don't tell me…"

"Gather the people in the city!" Finubar ordered, "I have to make a proclamation!" The servant affirmed the order, as the king, the warrior, and the mage all left, while Suranos flew away, leaving Natsu and Happy alone.

"What's going on, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Hell if I know." They would soon find out, as they were pulled out by servants, where Natsu was dragged into the room, and redressed. He was soon wearing an outfit that consisted of a red shirt and trousers, as well as a red cape. They all had orange flame patterns on them. When Natsu questioned it, he was told he had to look presentable. At least they had let him keep his scarf. They then pulled him to another part of the tower, where the was a balcony, where Finubar was waiting for him. When he got out to the balcony, he looked down to see a vast crowd looking up at him.

"My people!" Finubar said, spreading his arms, "I have the most glorious news to announce! Light has returned to Ulthuan! Dragons soar the skies, and the laughter of children fill the streets! Let it now be said, the Ten Kingdoms have new life within them!" The people cheered. Seeing them made Natsu think of Nelaryn and Faltius.

"And it is because of this one!" Finubar said, pushed Natsu forward, "It was through his magic that the country breathes again!"

"What?" was all Natsu could say.

"To that end, I, Finubar, 11th King of Ulthuan, hereby make this decree!" Finubar said, "I declare Natsu Dragneel of Fiore, Dragon Seer of Ulthuan! He will take his place at my hand, in the Royal Court!" Cheering resonated throughout the crowds, though Natsu wasn't paying attention this time.

"Wait!" he said, "What's going on here? I don't…." He wanted to continue protesting, only for someone to grab his shoulder. It was Tyrion.

"Do not refuse this honor, human," he said, "You are only here by the grace of the king." Natsu scowled at him.

"What's your problem?" he asked, shaking off the hand.

"I do not know you," Tyrion said plainly, looking Natsu straight in the eye, "You are an outsider, and you use an alien magic. I will be watching you, and the moment you present a threat to Ulthuan, I will cut you to ribbons."

"Go ahead and try," Natsu dared, "I'll cook you well done." The two stared each other down for a time, before Tyrion snorted, and departed, as Natsu found himself pushed back to Finubar's side, where he gave a nervous wave. Teclis and Happy watched from behind.

"Forgive my brother," Teclis said, "He truly loves his country, to a rather, obsessive extent."

"Aye sir," Happy said softly. Teclis looked down to see the exceed staring at the ground.

"What is the problem my feline friend?" he asked.

"I want to be stronger," Happy said eventually some time of silence, "Natsu can do all these amazing things. Everyone in our guild can do amazing things, but even here, I'm just a normal flying cat." Teclis looked down at Happy.

"Perhaps I can assist you with that," he said.

 **Note: So now Natsu even has his own title. Things seem to be going pretty good for him.**

 **Based on lore I've read, the High Elves were steadily dying, as little to no new children were being born. But the magic Natsu released over it seemed to do more than resuscitate the dragons. Also, for what its worth, in case it wasn't clear, Natsu's ripple only resonated across Ulthuan, not the whole world.**

 **Please review. One more chapter until the end of Part I.**


	27. Mavis I

_**Mavis I**_

One of the first things Mavis had noticed when she regained consciousness, was that she had a physical form. The next thing was that she was completely naked. So after making some clothes for herself, Mavis looked at her surroundings.

"This isn't Magnolia," she said out loud. That much was thoroughly obvious. Instead of being in the guild hall, or even a town, she was in the middle of a massive forest. There wasn't anything in the way of a path or anything, so Mavis did the only thing she really could do: start walking.

"That stupid game," she grumbled, "I bet it did all of this." The moment Erza brought it home, she hadn't trusted it. It had a strange, otherworldly feel about it, something Mavis knew all to well. Her best guess now was that it was a portal to another world, which she was currently in. A world that Mavis had absolutely no idea what it was like. The best she could guess was that this new world was based on the game, making Mavis wish that she had actually read some of the books about the game. All she could remember was that there were various races, like elves, dwarfs, and lizardmen.

The girl's attention was suddenly seized by the sound of a commotion. In her curiosity, she followed it. It lead her further through the forest, until she found a small building. In front of the building were a group of people, including a group of men attacking a woman.

The men were quite big, and they had blonde, unkept hair. They were waring spiked armor, and strange, horned helmets, with axes and shields in their hands. Mavis knew raiders when she saw them (she once read a book about a nation of raiders that lived in the Northern reaches of Ishgar). The woman was just dressed in a simple dress. It didn't take long for Mavis to deduce what the men had in their minds, and to decide what she needed to do.

"Hello!" Mavis said. The raiders looked up, and were likely surprised to see a small blonde girl sitting in a tree, looking over them.

"What the hell?" one of them grunted.

"Its a little girl."

"Little girls shouldn't out here," a third raider said, "Amscray."

"I'm a preteen, not a child!" Mavis said, pouting.

"You don't have anything worth taking, so you are therefore not worth dealing with," the first raider said, "So again, leave, before we change our minds."

"Why, are you threatening me?" Mavis said with a sweet smile.

"Yes, I would certainly say we are."

"Well that's not a good idea," Mavis said, "Weaklings like you could never threaten me." That set off one of the raiders, you with a yell, threw his axe at Mavis. However, it just phased right through her, dumbfounding the raiders as the illusion faded.

"Did you really think its going to be that simple?" Mavis said, appearing on another branch. Another axe went right through her.

"Come now, are you really that stupid?" Soon, there was a Mavis on just about every tree branch. The raiders were now very confused and disoriented, as they quickly ran out of axes.

"Is that all you can really do?" Mavis said, "Just throw your weapons?"

"What in Khorne's name are you?" one raider demanded.

"Let's see if you can actually use those weapons beyond throwing them," Mavis said, before snapping her fingers. The ground then ruptured, as a massive horned, reptilian beast pulled itself out of the ground, and roared at the raiders. That apparently pushed them over the edge, as they ran screaming from Mavis, and into the forest.

"Well, that was easy," Mavis said, as she watched the raiders leave, and the illusions faded away. She then looked towards the woman, only to see she had ran away as well. At least she accomplished her goal of saving the woman, so she was satisfied about that.

"That was an impressive enough feat, though it never takes much to deceive such brutes."

"Who said that?" Mavis asked, looking around. There shouldn't be anyone else with her.

"I did." Mavis looked up, to see a white raven perched on the branch over her. It fluttered down to her level, and looked into her eyes.

"You are not of this world," it said.

"How could you tell?"

"Your aura is not like that of the others here," the raven explained, "At any rate, I sensed the magical rift when you came to this land. I have been following you since."

"Really, what do you want with me?" Mavis asked, cocking her head.

"You interest met. As for the more basic details, I think I will keep that to myself for now," the raven said simply. Mavis narrowed her eyes at the raven.

"Why should I let you follow me?" she asked.

"Because you need a guide," the raven answered, "I know this world better than you ever possibly could. I will direct and advise you accordingly so that you can find your way in this world."

"Who are you?" Mavis asked.

"Some have called me the Everwatcher, others have called me the Chosen. But many mortals call me Sarthorael."

 _ **End Part I**_

 **Note: If you don't know who Sarthorael is, you can look up who he is. He is a Total War originally character though, so keep that in mind. If you know who he is, then you know what Mavis might be getting herself into.**

 **Please review. I can't promise when Part II will come out, but I might put out a preview style snippet if I get the motivation.**


	28. Part II Preview

_**Part II Preview**_

" _There are many illusions in this world…"_

 **(|)**

Natsu stepped out onto the balcony, as he looked over the expanse of Lothern….

 **(|)**

Lucy walked through a hall, as she ran her hands of the Lizardmen symbols and carvings….

 **(|)**

" _Some of these illusions are small, like the moon in the pond…"_

 **(|)**

Juvia held up a torch to the hieroglyphs of Nehekhara, which showed Settra atop his chariot…

 **(|)**

Gray climbed over a hill to look over the city of Altdorf, before staring down towards it…

 **(|)**

" _Other illusions are great, like the claimed power of a throne…"_

 **(|)**

Erza knelt, as a sword tapped onto her shoulder…

 **(|)**

Malekith offered an armored hand to Mirajane, who looked at it in silence…

 **(|)**

"… _. but the greatest illusion is that of control.…"_

 **(|)**

Wendy looked up at the Oak of Ages, as she slowly advanced towards it…

 **(|)**

Cana stood on a bridge, and looked over a dark, fogged land in the distance…

 **(|)**

"… _. because no matter how hard humans try…"_

 **(|)**

Lucy closed her eyes and held up her arms, as she waded into a green pool…

 **(|)**

Mirajane cracked her neck, as a dark aura flared up around….

 **(|)**

Gray put his hands together, as a cold mist gathered around his hands…

 **(|)**

"… change always comes," Sarthorael said to Mavis.

 **(|)**

Lucy leapt into the air in her Scorpio Star Dress as a carnosaur lunged at her…

 **(|)**

Natsu roared as he spat a cloud of fire into the air…

 **(|)**

Cana flipped through several cards, a grim look on her face, before frustratingly slamming her hands over them…

 **(|)**

Juvia curtsied before the throne of Settra, kissing the Blessed Blade of Ptra…

 **(|)**

"I can't do it!" Wendy said, "I can't cause anyone pain!"

" _In this world,"_ Durthu answered _, "You either endure the pain, or you inflict it. There is no middle ground."_

 **(|)**

"Will you fight with me?!"

"WWAAAAGGHH!"

 **(|)**

"Our time has come again," Finubar said holding up his fist, "It is time we acted upon it."

 **(|)**

Erza cringed, as she dove under a strike from a minotaur's axe…

 **(|)**

" **I** will not stand idle, as time and ruin causes **my** empire to crumble!" Settra declared, slamming his fist on the table.

 **(|)**

Gray removed his shirt, as he was faced down a Bright Wizard…

 **(|)**

"Our purpose is to fulfill the Great Plan," Aka'Rar said, "That is all that matters."

"Does it now?"

 **(|)**

"You cannot underestimate the importance of the old way."

"That's really easy when you're not the one terrorized by the old way!" Cana snapped.

 **(|)**

Wendy braced herself as a cygor reared over her…

 _ **Next month…**_

 **(|)**

Erza looked into the distance, as she saw the Green Knight looking over her…

 **(|)**

Mirajane held up her fist, and struck Malekith straight in the face…

 **(|)**

Natsu stood before the smoke, as a pair of glowing eyes burned through the haze. The smoke parted, revealing a dragon as it opened its wings, and roared to the sky.

… _ **change begins…**_

 **I said I'd do a preview if the urge hit me.**


	29. Erza IV

_**Erza IV**_

Erza wasn't sure what exactly to think when she got word that the king of Bretonnia, who was referred to as a "Royarch", was coming to the village. The people all seemed thoroughly struck by the notion, which Erza figured she should expect. To that end, she re-quipped into her nicest armor, and put her sword in the ground as she watched an entourage approach from the distance.

The people of the village were already kneeling to their king, even though he wasn't even close. Standing beside Erza was Sir Charles, his helmet under his arm, and his sword also in the ground. Earlier, he had given her a great stream of protocol that apparently had to be observed with meeting the Royarch, though Erza only paid it partial heed. She watched as a company of maybe a hundred men approached. Each one of them was armored fully, and a few wore similar armor to that of Charles.

"Are those Grail Knights?" Erza asked.

"Indeed," Charles said, "The Grail Knights are the most chivalrous of men, and the Royarch is the most chivalrous of Grail Knights." Erza wanted to believe that, but a true king should not have allowed his kingdom's people to suffer like this.

The party approached the village, but upon arriving, they came to an abrupt stop. Erza looked around.

"Where is the Royarch?" she asked. Nobody answered her, but instead they all fell to one knee, as did Charles. That was when she heard a screech, and she looked up. Flying over head was a winged creature. It soon landed, and Erza got a good look at it. It looked like a combination of an eagle and a horse, which is to say the front half was a bird, the back half was a horse. She'd heard of creatures like those in story books; they were called hippogriffs. But then Erza saw the man on its back.

Louen Leoncoeur was a tall man, with dark hair, and a short beard and mustache. He wore a great brilliant crown, with a red and blue cape lined with fur, with a breastplate with the sigil of a lion on it. He looked ever bit a king as he dismounted the hippogriff, and approached Erza. To that end, the scarlet haired mage fell to one knee in deference.

"You're Grace," Erza said in respect.

"Rise, my Lady," the Royarch said, gesturing. Erza did as told, and despite Charles' advice, looked the king straight in the eye. He at first seemed surprised by it, but then smiled.

"So, I heard you defeated Sir Charles in single combat," he said.

"That is true, your Grace," Erza said, "It was a fine fight."

"Oh, that I do not doubt," Louen answered with a nod, "What is your name, my Lady?"

"Erza Scarlet."

"Well, Lady Scarlet, I also hear you bested Viscount Castil's men in combat as well. I take it that was not a good fight."

"No," Erza said honestly, "They called themselves 'knights', but they were not anything of the such." Louen frowned briefly, as he folded his arms behind his back, and strolled over to his hippogriff, running his hand over its brow.

"I suppose they weren't," he eventually said, before looking to Erza, "Where did you learn to fight?"

"Myself, mostly," Erza admitted, "A combination of trial and error, and learning on the proverbial fly."

"I suppose there is no greater teacher," Louen responded, "Where are you from?"

"Fiore," Erza answered, "Nobody here knows where that is."

"They probably wouldn't," Louen said slowly, as he went back over to Erza, "But I'll admit I haven't heard of such a kingdom. Where exactly is it?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't tell you," Erza said, "Perhaps if you had a map…"

"A pity I don't. But what brought you to this kingdom?"

"Would you believe a magic portal?"

"Perhaps," Louen said, arching an eyebrow.

"Aside from that, walking. I came to this village, and found the people tormented by the Viscount. I could not stand by and do nothing." Erza bit her cheek slightly. She did have more to say, but wasn't sure if it was her place to say.

"You seem like you wish to say something," the Royarch said, "Do you?"

"I do, if your Grace would let me speak," Erza said. Louen just gestured. With that, Erza took a breath.

"Why weren't you here?" she said, "What manner of king stands by and watches as his own people are oppressed by the nobles he bequeathed the lands to?"

"Mind your tongue, foreigner!" one of the Grail Knights said, putting his hand on his sword, but the king held up his hand, silencing the knight.

"It is the duty of a king, and a knight, to protect the innocent," Erza said, "In all frankness, your Grace, you have failed in that respect." Glancing around, she noticed some of the villagers looking at her in horror. Some of the Grail Knights, including Charles, looked to shout at her, but Louen held up his hand to silence them again.

"Lady Scarlet speaks harshly," he said, "But she also speaks truly."

"Your Grace…"

"I do not do enough," Louen said, "Nor do we of the Grail Knights do enough." While Erza couldn't see the Grail Knights' faces, their body language said quite enough.

"You are skilled warrior, and you have a noble spirit," the Royarch said, "It would be a crime to not reward such service. Now kneel." As he said that, he drew his sword, and Erza was surprised as she realized what he was doing. The other knights seemed equally spruced.

"Your Grace," a man who wasn't in armor said as he approached, "It is my duty to advise restraint in this matter. Knighting a commoner…"

"Would offend many a nobleman across the kingdom," Louen finished, "Those fools barely leave their palaces. They can complain if they want."

"Sire…"

"She defeated a Grail Knight in single combat," Louen interrupted, "She could have fled, but stared here, to protect these people, knowing very well it could lead to her death. Are you suggesting that is not deserving of a royal knighting?" The adviser step back paused, before nodding, and take a step back.

"Again, kneel," he instructed. Erza at first wasn't sure, but then fell to one knee, as she put a hand over her chest. .

"Erza Scarlet," he said, "I will now recite the Seven Commandments. Are you ready?" Erza truly wasn't sure, but after a deep breath, and remembering her duty to the people, she affirmed.

"Do you vow to serve the Lady of the Lake to the best of your ability and beyond?"

"Yes, your Grace."

"Do you vow to defend the domains entrusted to you, as a knight of the realm?"

"Yes, your Grace."

"Do you vow to always protect the wake, and fight of the right?"

"Yes, your Grace."

"Do you vow to always fight the enemies of virtue and order?"

"Yes, your Grace."

"Do you vow to never give up the fight until the foe be defeated?"

"Yes, your Grace."

"Do you vow to never break faith with a friend or ally?" (like that one even needed to be asked)

"Yes, your Grace."

"And do you vow to always display honor and courtesy?"

"Yes, your Grace." With that Louen gently tapped both of Erza's shoulders with his blade.

"By the might of Bretonnia, and by the grace of the Lady, I, Louen Leoncoeur, Duke of Couronne, and Royarch of the Kingdom of Bretonnia, hereby dub thee, Dame Erza Scarlet, Knight of Bretonnia," Louen said, "Rise, a Knight and Viscountess of Brionne." Erza got that first one well enough, but then she heard that second part.

"Viscountess, your Grace?" Erza asked. The other knights and nobles seemed equally surprised by that as well.

"Bring him forth," Louen instructed, snapping his fingers. The party parted, as the Grail Knights dragged a familiar figure forward.

"Your Grace!" Viscount Castil said, "I beg to know what this is about!" Louen approached him, and promptly back handed him.

"Viscount Pastil, I hereby strip you of you're lands, title, and possessions," he said, "You violated one of the rules of honor. You fled from a foe without tactical cause. As far as I concerned, by raising her sword, Viscountess Scarlet challenged you to single combat, which you fled from. A man who would do such, does not deserve to call himself a knight of Bretonnia." The now former Viscount could only babble incoherently as the knights dragged him away.

"The castle is your's now, Viscountess Scarlet," the Royarch said, gesturing, "Make yourself at home, because it is". Erza was for a time lost for words.

"Thank you, your Grace," she eventually said.

"Your Grace," Sir Charles said, "I would remain with the Viscountess. She defeated me in fair combat, and claimed my service."

"If you so wish, Sir Charles," Louen said. He then looked up, towards the people, who were still all kneeling before him.

"We have some extra food," he said, "These people probably need it more than I do."

Not longer after he had finished distributing the food to the village, the Royarch left, and Erza got moved into her new castle. This was all thoroughly confusing to the red head, but she knew it wasn't her place to protest, so she tried to make herself comfortable in the castle. It was a nice enough place, if not rather extravagant. Castil had filled his castle with various ridiculous paintings and sculptures, that Erza made a note to get rid of. She eventually got to the bedroom, which had a portrait of Castil, which Erza promptly pulled down. Taking a breath, she walked over to the window, and looked out. She could see the faint lights of the village from the castle, as she sighed.

"I'm really making a mess of things here," Erza said, as she looked into the distance. That was when she saw something green. Looking closer, it was the same green figure she had seen a couple days prior. But before she could act on it, a green mist cloaked the figure, and faded away. As Erza wondered it was, she then heard a knock not he door, and after giving permission, Sir Charles entered.

"I hope you are comfortable here," he said.

"I hope so too," Erza answered, before looking back out the window.

"Something troubling you, Viscountess?" _I hope he doesn't start something with that_ Erza briefly thought.

"Twice now, I've seen a strange green figure in the distance," she said.

"A what now?"

"It was a figure that glowed green, and was surrounded by a green mist," the viscountess clarified. At first, Sir Charles was surprised, but then he smiled slightly

"That was the Green Knight you saw."

"The what?"

"The Green Knight is a figure that wanders the length of Bretonnia," Charles explained, "No one knows where he came from, or who he is. But he appears in times of great trouble to Bretonnia, to slay its greatest enemies. If you have seen him, then you clearly have some sort of destiny here in this land." Erza thought about that for a time.

"I wonder what that is?" she asked out loud. The Grail Knight was silent for a time, apparently thinking about something, before an idea came to him.

"Well, if I had to take a guess," Charles said, "You've proven yourself a masterful warrior, and a woman truly pure of heart. You could do well amongst our ranks as a Grail Knight."

"Well, how would I become a Grail Knight?" Erza asked, now intrigued. Charles pursed his lips.

"It is not a simple task," he answered, "You will have to go on a Grail Quest."

"And do what?"

"That would be up to the Lady, or whatever gods you pray to," Charles answered. He took that as an opportunity to leave. Erza watched, as he did, before looking back out to the village. Ever since being spat out into this kingdom, quite a stream of adventures had reached her, and quite a few decisions. But of all the things that had happened to her since she came here, she had certainty about one thing. She was going to go on a Grail Quest.

 **Note: So here's the beginning of Part II.**

 **Some might wonder why the Royarch would be so willing to knight a commoner, and a foreigner at that. But based on the lore I've read, King Louen is a man with a strict code of honor. It seems like it would be more out of character to me for him to** _ **not**_ **knight Erza. Also, there's the matter of him making Erza a viscountess; for him, the previous viscount violated the sacred laws of chivalry, and to that end, doesn't deserve to be a noble of Bretonnia. Also, the Royarch is functionally more absolute a ruler than the Emperor in the Empire.**

 **At any rate, this will likely have consequences in the future for Erza, and probably for Bretonnia at that. Take note that Castil wasn't married, and had no children. Aside from his servants, he lived alone in his castle.**

 **Please review. Next chapter we'll be seeing Natsu.**

 **It should quickly be said that Mavis was actually in Nordland, not the Chaos Wastes or Norsca.**


	30. Natsu V

_**Natsu V**_

Letting out a rather loud yawn, Natsu goose-stepped his way through the halls of the tower, Happy floating beside him. Despite the protests of some of the servants, Natsu was back in his regular clothes, with his scarf. Looking around, Natsu gazed at the various statues, images, and tapestries that hung through the halls of the palace. Frankly, the Dragon Slayer all found it rather jarring; there was way too much color and flare.

"This place is so big," Happy said.

"Too big," Natsu grumbled, "How can anyone find their way around it?"

"I hear elves live a long time," Happy said, "Maybe its so they can make their way through this stuff." Natsu chuckled, as he stepped out onto the balcony, as he looked over the expanse of Lothern. He couldn't deny, it was a truly spectacular city. It was at the very least twice the size of Crocus, and was a brilliant white, to such an extent that it hurt Natsu's eyes somewhat looking at it.

"How long are we going to be here?" Happy asked. Natsu was silent, as he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"I dunno," he finally said, "Until we can find our friends, I guess."

"Aye," Happy said.

"Lord Dragneel!" someone called. Natsu groaned out loud, as he and Happy turned to see another elf hurried forward.

"What is it?"

"His Majesty is holding court," the elf said.

"So?" The elf looked surprised by that.

"Well, as Dragon Seer, you are required to attend," the servant explained. When Natsu still made a face, the servant sighed.

"With all due respect, my lord," he said, "The Phoenix King himself requested your presence. You must come." Natsu glared before sighing slightly.

"Fine," he relented, as he started to walk, but when Happy started to follow.

"Either Happy goes, I don't," Natsu said bluntly. The servant, apparently not willing to make that big of an effort, agreed after some hesitation. With that, the pair went down the hall and stairs, into a large open room. Assembled through the room, aside from Finubar, Teclis, and Tyrion, were a few other elves dressed in elaborate armor. Natsu imagined they were generals or something. The room itself was dominated by a large map in the center, of what Natsu imagined was the world. By this point, Natsu had figured out that he and Happy weren't in Earthland anymore; it had been a rather frightening prospect.

"Ah, the Dragon Seer is here," Tyrion said. Natsu had heard enough sarcasm to know it, even if it was faint.

"Welcome, Lord Dragneel," Finubar said, "Please join us." Natsu actually did as instructed, as he stood next to Teclis, looking over the map, Happy on his shoulder. It was incredibly detailed, right down to the trees and water on the map.

"So, what's this about?" Natsu asked out loud.

"So some respect," Tyrion said, "Remember where you are, human." The Mage Lord put his hand on his brother's shoulder, who took a breath, and looked away. Natsu stuck his tongue out at Tyrion, who just ignored him.

"Actually, I have been wondering that myself, your Majesty," Teclis said, looking to the Phoenix King, "You still have not explained the reason for this assembly." Said monarch looked over the map slightly, before walking over it. However, it didn't break as he did.

"More word has come of more children being born," Finubar explained, "For all our bravado, it is true, our nation is returning to life." He stopped as he stood over Ulthuan, looking at it closely.

"I was awake the whole night, praying to Hoeth for wisdom as I considered the proper course of action. It took a long time, but eventually, the decision revealed itself to me." He then threw his knife straight into the center of Ulthuan.

"Our time has come again," Finubar said holding up his fist, "And we must act upon it." All the gathered looked at the Phoenix King.

"Your Majesty, are you suggesting…"

"The last time our empire entered an age of prosperity, it spanned entire oceans," Finubar continued, "Dragons will rise into the air, and soar Eastward, and towards the world of men." Murmurs of shock resonated across the hall, though Natsu still wasn't sure what Finubar meant, so with that…

"What the hell does this all mean?" he blurted out. Happy just sighed, putting his paw to his forehead, as the others stared at him.

"I mean to rebuild the empire that was lost millennia ago," Finubar said, thumping his chest, "With the dragons returned, and new generations being born, we have the means now."

"My King," Tyrion said stepping forward, "I am sure you do not need reminding, but nonetheless, consider the Druichi. A campaign of this scale would require tens, nay, hundreds of thousands of warriors. Who would be left to defend the homeland?"

"I will admit, this is merely an intention, not a plan," Finubar said, "Prince Tyrion is correct, but nonetheless, let us make proper preparations." He then gestured for a messenger to come over.

"Send word across the kingdoms," he said, "Instruct the princes to begin assembling their ships, and training their men. When the call comes, they must be ready."

"And when will that call be, your Majesty?" Teclis asked.

"I would discuss that with my court," Finubar answered, "I will also seek further wisdom from the Cadai. This assembly is adjourned for the time." Natsu was't sure what 'adjourned' meant exactly, but he did note that the elves were dispersing, so he decided to leave as well.

"Lord Dragneel!" he heard Teclis calling.

"What?" Natsu asked, as the Mage Lord came up to him.

"Walk with me," Teclis said, which Natsu did, Happy floating over them, "You're feline friend has confided in me about becoming stronger."

"Really?" Natsu asked, looking towards his partner, "Why?" Happy looked down at the floor for a moment.

"Carla and Lily can do all sorts of things I can't," he said, "When Wendy or Gajeel need help, they can help 'em."

"Ah, come on," Natsu said, pulling Happy onto his shoulder, "You help me all the time. I couldn't get anywhere without your help."

"But Carla and Lily can actually fight, all I can do is run and hide," Happy said.

"Happy…"

"I want to be stronger!" Happy declared, floating in front of Natsu, "I'll do anything."

"If I may interrupt, I just might have a remedy to that," Teclis said, "If you are willing to do it."

"Aye sir!" Happy said immediately.

"Wait a minute," Natsu said, putting his hand on Happy's head, "What is it?" Teclis gestured for them to follow, leading them into his room. He went over to his desk, and rooted through some papers, before pulling out one in particular.

"There's a very old and ancient spell, once used during the Sundering as a last resort," Teclis explained, "I have read about it in the old scrolls, but the lack of dragons made it impossible to achieve. But with you and Natsu here, it might not be impossible anymore."

"Just what the hell is it?" Natsu all but demanded.

"By channeling the power of dragons, I can conceivably transform you into a dragon," Teclis said simply. There was a thick silence, as Happy and Natsu stared at the Mage Lord.

"Come again?" Natsu eventually said.

"I will admit, it is still an untested, unknown spell," Teclis said, "There are no assured consequences concerning it."

"No way!" Natsu said, "That sounds way too dangerous. Right, Happy?" He looked at the Exceed, who was staring at the ground.

"Wait…," Natsu said.

"I want to do it!" Happy suddenly declared.

"What?!"

"I'm tired of just being a cat!" Happy said, "Carla can turn into a human!"

"That's not the same! You'll be completely turned into a giant dragon!"

"It stands to reason that the spell may or not be reversible," Teclis said, "Again, this is an untested magic. But if it succeeds, you will be among the unstoppable forces that command the skies." Natsu knew, that no matter how much he protested, this was ultimately Happy's decision.

"Is this really what you want Happy?" he asked. Happy was silent for a time, as he clenched his paws.

"I don't know," he admitted, "But I want to be able to do something, and I can still eat fish right? Let's do it!" Natsu took a deep breath, before nodding in agreement.

"Very well," Teclis said, "I will prepare the ritual. In one and a half hours, come to the top of the tower." With that he pointed to the partners to the door.

Natsu and Happy did as told, eventually coming to the top of the tower. Assembled there were a circle of elves dressed in similar styles to Teclis. Teclis himself stood in the center of the circle. A couple of dragons were along the edges of the tower. Even Natsu could tell that this was a magic circle.

"Stand here," he instructed to Happy, pointing at the center, before gesturing to Natsu, "And you, stand there." He pointed to a spot in the circle with the other elves. After a moment of hesitation, Natsu took the place. Teclis took a breath, as he took a step back, and held up his staff, as the top caught fire. The elves held up their staffs, as they also ignited.

"In the name of Addaioth, Bringer of Wrath and Fire, we commence this spell," Teclis said.

"Hail Addaioth!" the elves resonated. With that, they all drove their staffs into the ground. The circles they stood in lit up red, creating orbs of energy over them, creating a perfect ring of spheres over the magic circle. The dragons opened their wings, as a glow surrounded them, as it did Natsu. The dragons then all breathed fire, and taking the queue, Natsu inhaled and released his own fire. The fire then drew into the orbs as well. The circle Happy stood in also started to glow red.

"Addaioth," Teclis said, spreading his arms, "We give you this being to you. Take him into your hold, and mold him into a being of wrath and fire!"

"Hail Addaioth!" the elves repeated.

"Addaioth. Turn his limbs into claws, and his skin to scales. Turn his breath to fire, and set his soul ablaze."

"Hail Addaioth!"

"Addaioth. Turn this small creature, into a lord of sky and fire. Make him as a dragon of old! Hail Addaioth!"

"Hail Addaioth!" With that, the orbs descended upon the small, blue Exceed. The orbs then turned into a beam of light, and Happy let out a cry as said light consumed him.

"Happy!" Natsu cried.

"Don't break the circle!" Teclis ordered, pointing at Natsu.

"What's happening?"

"Addaioth is bringing him up," Teclis explained, "We must see what he will do with Happy."

"So you didn't know if this would work?!" Natsu demanded, as he started to move towards the Mage Lord.

"If you break the circle, it will definitely NOT work!" With that, Natsu could only grind his teeth, and hold his position, as the light shot into the sky.

It seemed to hold like that for forever, before the burning light collapsed, and was replaced by smoke. Teclis slouched slightly, panting, which Natsu took as an indication that the ritual was complete. Natsu stood before the smoke, as a pair of glowing eyes burned through the haze. The smoke parted, revealing a dragon as it opened its wings, and roared to the sky. It had brilliant blue scales, and brilliant white wings.

"Ha… Happy?" Natsu asked. The dragon looked down at Natsu. It was still for a second, as the glow from its eyes faded, revealing yellow eyes. The eyes blinked slightly, as the dragon shook its head. It then looked at Natsu.

" **Natsu?"** The voice was slightly deeper, and slightly more resonating, but Natsu would recognize that voice, and those eyes, anywhere.

"Well," Natsu said, with a grin, "Can't wait to show you off to Gajeel and Wendy!"

 **Note: So it seems Finubar is planning a new campaign for Ulthuan. And Happy has been transformed into a dragon.**

 **Turning Happy into a dragon was a decision that I made since I put Natsu with the High Elves. In fact, I'd dare any fanfic writer to take Happy (especially post-Tartaros Happy), and actually do something with him, beyond just a punch line. I wanted to give him a real power boost, not just some magical items.**

 **The spell I made up completely. There are spells that exist in lore that gives some particularly high spell casters power to cast high rank powers. The Dread Thirteenth Spell of the Skaven turns their enemies all into Skaven themselves. Considering that Teclis is one of the greatest spell casters period, with the right spell, he could've turned someone, including Happy, into a dragon.**

 **Please review. Won't tell you the next chapter.**


	31. Gajeel and Levy I

_**Gajeel and Levy I**_

Levy sighed, as she lit her candle. While it was a full moon, since coming to the Badlands, Levy made a devoted effort to avoid being outside with her and Gajeel's "glorious army".

She still wasn't sure how she, Gajeel, and Pantherlily got where they did, she did understand just what exactly they had managed to accomplish since then. Simply put, the portal spat the three of them out in the middle of a blazing wasteland. Not long after that, they were caught by dozens of hulking green creatures aptly called "Greenskins". Then, through a series of events, Gajeel took control of the tribe they were part of, by killing the war boss. Things only escalated from there.

Even after nearly two weeks, the sound of the cackling Greenskins still made her skin crawl. Something about the way they did it just seemed… wrong. However, considering what the victory they just had, it probably wasn't entirely unearned. They had just finished a battle with a tribe called the "Black Thumbs", and after Gajeel killed their boss, the survivors joined the Iron Choppas. They had done the same thing with the Bone Bitas who hadn't fled into the mountains.

"Oy, Ms. Lavy!" Levy sighed, recognizing that voice, and breaking her from her memories.

"Its 'Levy'," she said, not looking up, as a goblin called "Skak" scuttled up to her, "What is that now, four times?"

"Sorry, Boss lady," Skak said, as he put a series of scrolls on the table, "'Ere're da maps you wanted." Skak was originally a lower goblin in the Iron Choppas, until Gajeel convinced him to give them the key to get out of the cages they were stuck in. As a reward, he was made one of their personal aides.

"Thank you," Levy said, unraveling one of them. These were maps of the badlands, and a general territory of the various tribes. Currently, the Iron Choppas were focused around the Southeastern badlands, nestled in a fort in a small ravine they took from the Bone Bitas called "Blood Tooth Gully".

"Aside from the Black Thumbs, what's the nearest tribe?" Levy asked.

"Dat wud be da Giant Stompas," Skak answered, "Dose gits will prob'bly come afta us next." Levy frowned, as she bit her lip.

"What're you doing all the way up here, shrimp?" Gajeel called, as he walked up to where Levy was, with Lily floating beside him.

"Boss!" Skak said, as he quickly came up to Gajeel, and started groveling at his feet, "I was jus' telling da boss lady…"

"Get out of here," Gajeel ordered.

"Right away, Boss!" Skak said, as he scurried away. Levy just rolled her eyes.

"Say what you will about orcs," she said, looking back at the maps, "At least they aren't so wimpy."

"Why aren't you at the celebration?" Gajeel asked, holding up a mug of brown liquid the greenskins called "grog".

"I think that stuff would kill me," Levy answered with a sweat drop, "I think the only reason you can drink it is because you're a dragon slayer."

"Your loss," Gajeel said, as he downed another mug, "I beat up three orcs to get this." Levy rolled her eyes again, before looking back to her maps.

"How many do we have now?" Lily asked. The blue haired mage quickly pulled out a stencil and started counting.

"Now that we've assimilated the Black Thumbs, we have 4000 orc warriors, 1200 goblins, 23 trolls, and 4 giants," Levy answered, after she finished crunching the numbers.

"That's not bad," Lily said, folding his paws.

"No its not," Levy said, "Its definitely better than what we had when we got here. But I'm not sure if our swelling numbers is such a good thing."

"Why?" Gajeel asked.

"Do you think its a coincidence that the Black Thumbs showed up only a few days after we beat the Bone Bitas?" Levy asked, frowning, "They were looking for a fight, which our army can give them. No doubt, we're going to be getting more tribes' attention now."

"If they decide to mess with us, we'll just do what we did to the others," Gajeel said confidently.

"You remember what Skak told us? About an orc called Grimgor Ironhide, right?"

"Yeah," Gajeel said, "What about him?" He and Levy both were told about that orc. According to Skak, he was the most violent, and powerful orc in the Badlands.

"How long will it be before Grimgor, or any of the other great war bosses decide we're a threat?" Levy explained, "Word is one of Grimgor's lieutenants is traveling to the West, and he's got over 20,000 orcs in his horde." Gajeel tossed the mug over his shoulder, before rubbing the back of his head.

"Look," he said, "we can't keep moping around wonder what might happen. Let's just deal with things as they come."

"I'm not sure if we can do that now that we're in this world," Levy said, looking back at the map, "Don't forget we have no idea where the others are, and Skak said this world is huge."

"Since when does Fairy Tail plan things ahead?" Gajeel said, patting Levy on the head. Despite wanting to be mad, Levy couldn't help but snigger slightly.

"Can't we just have _some_ kind of plan?" she asked.

"Fine," Gajeel relented after a moment, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," Levy said, pointing the map, "We keep to the mountains as long as we can, beating up on whatever comes our way to keep the army happy. Then we start moving West towards the ocean. Maybe we can get away there."

"That sounds more like an outline to a plan than an actual plan," Lily said skeptically.

"I know, but its all I got right now," Levy said, before smiling, "And Gajeel was actually right for a change, when does Fairy Tail plan things so far ahead?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

 **Note: Sorry this was so short. It was mostly just to establish where Gajeel and Levy are, and what's been happening them since they got to the Warhammer world. Putting them with the Greenskins was a serious no brainer. Things seem to be going okay for them, but what'll happen when they get the attention of someone like Grimgor?**

 **Writing the Greenskin dialogue is actually pretty difficult, since you've got to represent their verbal tics in writing form, which is never really easy. If you ever have trouble reading it, just mutter it out loud briefly, and that should do the trick.**

 **Please review. Next chapter is Juvia.**


	32. Juvia IV

_**Juvia IV**_

"Why do I have to wear this?" Juvia whined.

"Because your other clothes are not befitting a lady of Khemri," Rahtas answered. Juvia pouted, as she picked at her skirt. Instead her regular clothing, she was now wearing a blue dress with gold edges, and gold symbols. Her hair was now straight, with golden trinkets woven into it. Atop her head, was a golden circlet, and a jewel-gold necklace around her neck. While perhaps these made more sense than a rain coat while in the desert, that didn't make her like it.

"Come, his Majesty's council is waiting," Rahtas said, as he lead Juvia down the palace halls. As they did, Juvia looked around at the walls; while time had clearly taken its toll on them, they still looked stunning. They depicted everything from battles to monsters. Soon they got to Settra's throne room. It was a large room, where one wall was gone, giving a look over the whole of Khemri. The rest of the walls were dominated by more images like the ones in the hall. That left Settra's throne, and that was quite possibly the most extravagant of structures.

It was raised a good ten feet off the ground, and was surrounded by a small moat. Framing the steps to the throne, were two snakes, with fanged skulls for heads. The throne itself was made of solid gold, and next to it were two otherwise empty pots; a circular window was over the throne, shining the sun directly over the throne. The Pharaoh himself sat upon the throne, his blade leaning against it, and another warrior stood next to his throne. Assembled before the throne were more priests and warriors, as well as undead figures carrying stencils and papers. When Settra noticed her, he gestured for her to come.

"Take your place," he said, pointing to the steps. After a moment's hesitation, Juvia went to the stairs, and sat down on them. That received some gazes from the rest of Settra's court. It wasn't like Juvia liked it, since this position combined with the outfit made her look like a harem girl.

"Now that you're here, allow me to introduce you to my personal guard and herald, Nekaph," Settra said, pointing to the mummy next to him. Juvia looked up at him; like the others, he was bound in wrappings, with a skeletal face. He carried a curved sword on his hip, and wore a crown that had a rearing snake on it.

"Lady Juvia," Nekaph said with a nod, which Juvia returned.

"Very good," Settra said quickly, waving his hand, before addressing the court, "I gathered you all here to make a proclamation, but first I must know, how many warriors do we have available?" Though Juvia still couldn't see their reactions, the way they all turned to their king showed the question was surprising.

"3000 guard are active throughout the city," Nekaph said, when the others apparently didn't answer quickly, "Another 80,000 are buried beneath the city. Then there are the skeletons buried across the desert."

"That won't be enough," the Pharaoh muttered, tapping a finger on his throne, before pointing to a scribe, "Send word to Numas and Lybaras to count the warriors they have." Juvia was surprised by how apparently over eighty thousand warriors weren't enough.

"Queen Khalida will not appreciate you scouting her guard," Nekaph said.

"She can refuse us if she wishes," Settra answered, "And if she does, I will remind her of her place."

"If I may ask, your Majesty," one of the warriors said, stepping forward, "What is the purpose of these questions?" After a moment, Settra rose to his feet, and descended down to Juvia's spot

"Thousands upon thousands of years ago, our nation spread from beyond the horizon," he said, "But then _he_ came. Curses upon him."

"Curses upon him," the court echoed. Juvia couldn't imagine what that was all about. But the tone they talked about this individual, it was kind of like the way people would talk about Zeref or Acnologia in her world.

"But then, this child came to us," Settra said, as he took Juvia's hand, and pulled her up, "She is a gift from the gods themselves. It shows that they have not yet abandoned Nehekhara." Juvia looked away with embarrassment, not entirely fond of this attention from a group of undead corpses.

"What fools would we be to squander the opportunity the gods have granted us," Settra said, as he released Juvia, and walked back up the stairs, running his hand over the back brim of the throne, "We must act, lest our best chance to reclaim our lost glory be lost." That apparently set it in for the whole of the court, as well as Juvia.

"Your Majesty, I do not presume to understand your mindset, nor do I question your wisdom."

"As you should not," Settra answered, sitting back in his throne.

"But while the river is purified, and flowing again, it will be some time before life fully returns to Nehekhara," the priest said, "Perhaps we should wait another few hundred years…"

"Juvia won't live that long!" Juvia blurted out, probably beating Settra to the same punch.

"We can simply mummify this girl, and keep her here," the priest said.

"No," Settra said, "We cannot wait for destiny to come to us. We must act upon it."

"Your Majesty…"

"NO!" the Pharaoh snapped. That silenced the whole room.

" **I** will not stand idle, as time and ruin cause **my** empire to crumble!" Settra loudly declared, slamming his fist on his arm rest, "We will do this, and we will do it now! This is the will of the Pharaoh of Nehekhara, so let it be written, let it be done."

"By your will, great Settra," the court eventually echoed out. During this Juvia just listened, as she sat back down on the steps.

"In the time since we fell to ruin, many other human nations have risen," Settra said, "These nations are weak, and pitiful. If anything, they would be benefited by us conquering them." It didn't take a genius to realize what exactly the Pharaoh had plan. He had a big campaign planned, and it no doubt involved Juvia in a big role. But that meant war, and Juvia certainly did not want to go to war.

"Send word to the other cities to count their forces, and make the preparations," Settra said, "The sooner we are ready, the sooner we can act."

"Yes, your Majesty!" the court resounded.

"Juvia!" Settra called.

"Yes!" Juvia said, looking up from her position.

"You will stay with Rahtas, and continue to study the way of Nehekhara," Settra said, "When the time comes, you must understand it."

"Um…" Settra couldn't let her ask any questions, as he descended the steps of his throne, Nekaph following him. As he did, he leaned in next to Juvia.

"If you have any defiance left in you, free yourself of it," he said, "His Majesty has faced greater defiance and crushed it under his heel. You have his favor, favor lesser nobles in Nehekhara would kill to attain; that is something you should take advantage of that." He then left her, letting the Rain Woman watch as he left.

"Well," Rahtas said, coming up next to her, "I suppose we can start with the founding of the Empire."

"This is going to take a while, isn't it?" Juvia said with a sigh.

 **Note: It seems Finubar is not the only one with plans of rebuilding his empire.**

 **This chapter was essentially establishing what's going on in Nehekhara. For them, the reviving of the river is beyond a good omen, its an essentially a miracle. Quickly note that Settra doesn't (at least to my knowledge) hold the exact title of "Pharaoh", and his title is instead "High King". Of course, that's the same title as the ruler of the Karaz-Ankor, and seeing as Nehekhara is pretty much this world's version of Ancient Egypt, why shouldn't he hold an Ancient Egyptian title?**

 **Please review, though it seems the chapters with Juvia and the Tomb Kings are the least popular. Next chapter we'll see Lucy.**


	33. Lucy IV

_**Lucy IV**_

As she stared into the gold slab that served as her mirror, Lucy glared at the red streak that went down her hair. She got this hair from her mother, and she didn't want some divine war snake screwing around it.

"I hate this thing," she grumbled, as she put the gold slab back in her pocket.

"It is a gift from Sotek," Itzaco said as he walked beside her, "You should treasure it."

"Normally, I wish people would give gifts that people would ask for," Lucy griped, as she kept walking. She and about two hundred of her Lizardmen "companions", were marching through the jungle. According to Itzaco, they were going to Hexoatl, the City of the Sun, which essentially functioned as Lustria's capital. The Skink was going to introduce Lucy to two apparently important individuals: Mazdamundi, the lord of Hexoatl, and Kroq-Gar, one of the oldest and strongest of all the Saurus in Lustria.

"Why are we even doing this?" Lucy asked, "Can't we just do it at Xlanhuapec?"

"The Lord of Hexoatl is the eldest of the Slann," Itzaco answered, "He is the wisest of them all." It was always hard for Lucy to detect emotion in one of them, but his tone was hiding something, though Lucy wasn't sure what exactly that was.

"You are a chosen of Sotek," Itzaco said, "You are worth being addressed by the Lord, and Lord Kroq-Gar will probably wish to see you himself."

"There's till got to be an easier way to do this," Lucy said. Nonetheless, she kept marching with the Lizardmen.

After some more walking, they came across another city. Though Lucy had seen Xlanhuapec, it was thoroughly outclassed by Hexoatl. Golden spires and pyramids rose into the clouds, and statues of reptilian figures loomed over Lucy like old gods. However, at the time, it seemed very…. run down. Vines and moss spider-webbed through the structures, showings its age. Moving throughout the streets were Lizardmen of all variations, doing their works.

Eventually, they came upon a particularly large pyramid, that had a top that swirled with glowing energy. Lucy figured this was where Mazdamundi was. She then noticed a particularly large Saurus approaching them. As he got closer, Lucy saw that his right arm was covered in a golden glove. Pretty soon, however, she saw that it wasn't a glove. Rather, it was an entire prosthetic arm made out of gold.

"Lord Kroq-Gar," Itzaco said with a nod of respect. The Saurus, who Lucy now knew to be Kroq-Gar, approached the blonde, and circled her briefly.

"Um, hi!" Lucy said nervously, "My name's Lucy."

"This is the warmblood that Sotek marked?" Kroq-Gar asked, gesturing to her.

"Yes," Itzaco answered, "With sheer force, and a magic we do not know she killed a rat ogre in a single strike."

"That is indeed an impressive feat," Kroq-Gar answered, wiggling his prosthetic fingers, which made a tinkling sound, "Though I once took out two with a single strike."

"Well, I hear you're the best fighter in Lustria," Lucy said.

"Nonetheless," Kroq-Gar said, "for a warmblood to perform such a feat. It is no wonder that Sotek blessed you."

"Well, I am not from here," Lucy admitted.

"No warmblood is." Lucy thought about elaborating that she wasn't from this world, but didn't want to ruin the potential good will she was building with the individual Itzaco said was the greatest warrior in the world.

"Fortune be good, the Lord will allow you to stay," Kroq-Gar said, "I would be pleased for you to join me on the battlefield some day."

"Great," Lucy said nervously, before asking just as nervously, "But what if Lord Mazdamundi decides not to let me stay?"

"He will likely ordered you removed."

"What does that mean?" Lucy asked. Kroq-Gar didn't answer, which wasn't encouraging.

"Go," he said, gesturing, "The Lord is not in a patient mood." With that, Lucy was hurried up the stairs to the top of the pyramid; framing the steps were more of the Temple Guard, standing perfectly still. This one had a small structure at the top, which Lucy was lead into. It was there that she saw Lord Mazdamundi.

The Slann present had primarily red skin, with a light yellow belly. His eyes glowed yellow, and he wore a strange crown. His head listed around, and his eyes looked rolled back. Kroq-Gar fell to one knee before Mazdamundi.

"My Lord," he said, "This is the warmblood chosen by Sotek." Mazdamundi literally croaked, as he slowly looked down at Lucy.

"Why…," was all he said at first, and after almost a minute, Lucy opened her mouth to try and answer, only for him to croak again, "…is it here?"

"It is a long story that I don't fully understand myself," Lucy said, trying to ignore the "it" part, "Long story short, one moment I was in my guild hall, the next I was in the middle of the jungle." Mazdamundi rolled slightly again, like he was nauseous, something Lucy found rather insulting.

"Look, if you don't want me here, I'd leave," she said, "I certainly didn't want to be marked by this Sotek or whoever."

"There was no tell of a yellow haired figure on any of the plaques," Mazdamundi said after some more swirling and spinning.

"Well, I'm sure those plaques don't specify a lot of things," Lucy said, "Meaning no offense." If Mazdamundi was offended, he didn't show it a way Lucy could understand.

"I shall reserve judgement for the time, so that I may further study and analyze the inscriptions" the Slann said, "But in the mean time, she must be watched every moment of every day of every week, and she is forbidden from ever leaving the city." There was light chittering amongst the Lizardmen, which Lucy wasn't really sure what to make of.

"My Lord," Kroq-Gar said, "I understand that she is a warmblood, but she is a favored of Sotek. Would it not be an insult to the gods to show her such treatment?"

"The Old Ones are our gods," Mazdamundi said, "Even if she is favored by that upstart, it does not matter."

"Of course, my Lord," Kroq-Gar said, "Your will be done." With that, he ushered Lucy out of the temple.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?" Lucy demanded, "Maybe I misheard, but I'm now effectively trapped in this city!"

"That is correct," Kroq-Gar said, "But you may go anywhere in this city, so long as you are supervised."

"My party and myself are ready to fulfill that task," Itzaco said, "We will see to it that Lucy does not ever leave the city." The blonde couldn't help but notice that it was one of the few times where they referred to her by her name opposed to "warmblood". Knowing it would be futile to protest, Lucy didn't try. So instead, she just wandered through the city, her Skink companions beside her. As she looked around, she noticed that they all looked the same.

"Itzaco, can I ask you a question?" Lucy asked.

"That depends on the question."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but everyone I talked to as sounded male," Lucy said, "Where are the females?"

"There are no 'female' members of our people," Itzaco said plainly. That made Lucy stop in her tracks, blinking in surprise.

"Then how…"

"We are spawned," Itzaco explained, "Deep beneath the cities are vast pools which we are pulled out of."

"Is it really wise to inform this warmblood of all this?" one of the other skinks asked.

"This warmblood is a chosen of Sotek," Itzaco said, "If he favors her, then she is assuredly worthy of this information." Lucy looked down at the ground, tapping her foot on it.

"So there are big pools under the cities that create new Lizardmen?" she asked.

"That may be an oversimplification," Itzaco said, "But essentially, yes. However…" He trailed off some, not sure what to say.

"What?" Itzaco still didn't say anything at first.

"You just said I'm a chosen of Sotek or whatever," Lucy said, "Are you going to tell me or not?" The Skink was still silent for a time, before his tongue licked the air, and his tail slid over the ground.

"There were once many spawning pools beneath many cities," he said, "But those cities and those pools are decayed and useless now."

"Could you review them if you tried?"

"Perhaps," Itzaco said, "But the Slann barely let us try, because they do not think it falls into the purview of the Great Plan." Lucy wanted to know about this "Great Plan", but figured that she'd pried enough for information now.

"So, do you guys have anything to read?"

 **Note: Lucy is in a rather precarious position right now. Let's hope Mazdamundi decides she is worth keeping around.**

 **To those who are wondering, yes Lucy will get a mount of her own. The exact kind of mount I will leave hidden for the time being. Also, I'll say now that I'm going to be taking some liberties with Lizardmen lore, so as to tell what I hope is an interesting story. I won't give away what those liberties are just yet.**

 **Please review. Next chapter, we're going to Athel Loren.**


	34. Wendy IV

_**Wendy IV**_

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not a daughter of Hoeth," Wendy said.

"But you have the gift of healing," the elf said, "If nothing else, you are favored by him."

"I'm sorry," Wendy said, "But I don't even known who Hoeth is. How could I be favored by him?"

"One does not need the favor of a god to have his favor," the elf said simply. Wendy could only sigh. Ever since she healed Durthu, elves from all over Athel Loren had been gathering before her to seek her healing, claiming she was a descendant of one of their gods. She was currently in a large, open hall underground that reminded Wendy of the guild hall, sitting on one of several tables, with elves mingling about. Orion himself was sitting on a throne, polishing his spear. The elf before her was seeking some kind of blessing.

Wendy did what she had been doing every time an elf came seeking a blessing. She held per hands, and gave them a slight power boost with her magic. The elf seemed to accept it as if it were a literal gift from the gods. The elf thanked her, and left. Wendy sighed, as she collapsed onto the table, face down. Carla, in her cat form, was standing on the table next to her.

"This is so embarrassing," she moaned, as she flushed a bright red.

"Muscle through it, child," Carla said, "We do need to stay on their good side."

"This is worst than when I would sing at Lamia Scale," Wendy said, looking up slightly, "At least they didn't treat me like a god."

"I don't see why they would need to," Carla said, "It seems they've got two gods walking around with them all the time." They had been told that Orion and Ariel were literal gods on earth, as avatars of the gods, Kurnous, and Isha respectively. That was admittedly somewhat strange, the idea of gods walking among them. Wendy was never particularly religious, nor was Carla, or any member of Fairy Tail. In fact, Wendy had only ever seen the Kardia Cathedral with its intended use occasionally. She did believe in some divine force (her partner for a time was a God Slayer after all), but she never gave it _that_ much thought.

"My Ladies," Asarith called, as he approached them, carrying some papers under his arm.

"Asarith!" Wendy said smiling, "You are not here to seek my blessing, are you?"

"I apologize for them," Asarith said with a slight smile, "We were always a fairly superstitious lot." He set the papers down on the table.

"Here are the maps you requested," he said, "It shows the whole of Athel Loren, as well as the world." Wendy thanked her friend, and opened the maps with Carla. The first one was a map of Athel Loren, and the various realms that formed it.

"We're here in King's Glade, aren't we?" Wendy asked, pointing to one of the southern realms. Asarith nodded.

"How many are there?" Carla asked.

"Twelve exist, but Cyrthal is more an outpost than a functioning realm, and Anmyr will likely be abandoned within the next couple seasons," Asarith answered.

"Really, why?" Asarith opened his mouth, but then closed, as he nervously shifted on his feet.

"Cyanathair," he finally said, "the Corruptor."

"Cyanathair," Wendy said, trying to say it like them, though it was hard.

"He is a Beastman unlike any other," Asarith explained slowly, "As vile as some of them are, he is more so. His kind call him 'Morghur'."

"Morghur," Wendy echoed. That was certainly easier to say.

"Where exactly is this creature?" Carla said, "If our time here has taught us anything, its that you are the greatest hunters that ever were. So why don't you hunt him?" Asarith was silent, as his hand seemed to go down to his knife.

"If the Cadai are good, then he is still in the beyond," Asarith said. Wendy and Carla had more to ask, but he quickly left after that.

"I hope we didn't offend him," Wendy said.

"I don't think that was offense," Carla said, "That seemed more like fear." Wendy pondered about that fear, but figured she wouldn't understand, so she turned her attention back to the maps.

"So if we're here in Athel Loren," she said, "That means…" She moved the regional map aside, revealing a world map. The region that housed the forest was in green, which made Wendy balk at just how big this world really was.

"Our friends could be anywhere," she said, "This world is huge." Carla furrowed her brow, and folded her paws.

"Well, let's take this one step at a time," she said, "We need to figure out what to do while we're actually here in Athel Loren." Wendy puffed her cheek out in thought.

"We could just ask Orion if we can leave," she said, "They probably trust enough now, right?"

"I don't know," Carla said, "But we still need to know more of the world outside. When we dropped into this forest, in under an hour, we were attacked by a minotaur. Who knows what else is out there?" Wendy knew Carla was right, as she sighed and looked back at the map. Her attention was grabbed by the sound of a hawk, as one flew through one of the openings in the ceiling of the hall. She watched as it landed on Orion's shoulder, and seemed to whisper some things in his ear. The king narrowed his eyes, as he suddenly rose to his feet, reached behind him, and pulled out his horn. He blew into it, sending out that eerie, resonating sound throughout the hall. Immediately, all the elves at the tables got up, and started hurrying out. Wendy noticed Asarith was hurrying back towards her.

"What's going on?" Wendy asked.

"The hunt has been called," the elf answered, "You must come with us." Wendy didn't really have time to argue or ask questions, so she didn't bother, as she and Carla (after turning into a human), followed Asarith back to the surface.

When they got out, they saw entire battalions of elven warriors moving about, out of the treelike, into the clearing. Orion himself had already made his way up there, and was shouting orders to various groups. As Asarith ran to go get his stag (which sounded very weird when he put it like that), Wendy and Carla came up to Orion.

"What's going on?" Wendy asked.

"Word from Cavaroc," Orion answered, "A herd of Beastmen has been sighted moving into our lands. Our forces must be mustered for the hunt."

"How many are there?" Carla asked.

"We do not know for certain," Orion answered, "But they always travel in great numbers, so we must deploy equal numbers." Wendy looked around, seeing what looked like thousand of elves emerged from the trees. She guessed there had to be nearly 10,000 warriors present. Emerging out of the trees were various tree spirits as well. It looked like it was going to be a truly great army.

"So what do we do?" Wendy asked.

"You march," Orion answered, "You prove yourself to the Wild Hunt." He then marched away to a small ledge, where he looked over his army.

"The Wild Hunt, begins!" he declared, as he blew into his horn again. The elves all cheered together, as they turned, and darted back into the trees, vanishing. Wendy and Carla were then grabbed by the Wild Riders, who darted into the forest after Orion.

 **Note: So the Wood Elves are marching to war, and Wendy's coming with.**

 **The way the Warhammer Fantasy verse approaches ideas of the divine seems to be that all religions are to some extent true. Aside from the Chaos gods, the Elven gods really exist, as do the gods of men. As for** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **it always seemed to straddle a middle ground between Eastern notions of physical gods who can be challenged and defeated, and Western notions of all seeing, all powerful gods.**

 **Please review. Next chapter is Gray making his way through the Empire.**


	35. Gray IV

_**Gray IV**_

Gray wiped his brow, as he kicked up some dirt on the road. He had been walking for a couple of days from Talabheim, making his way towards Altdorf. Though a guard had been offered, he had decided to go alone, figuring a guard would just slow him down. Fortunately, this time he didn't run into any Beastmen, and his journey across the countryside had been fairly uneventful.

His plan was to get to Altdorf, find the College of Magic, and start looking for his friends. While he doubted any of them were actually there, he could potentially get a start, and figure out more about the lay of the land. It wasn't much but it was wall the start he had at this point. Soon enough, he came up to a hill, and when he got over it, he got his first look at the Imperial City.

"Damn," was all he was able to say. Altdorf was truly a sight to behold. It looked at least four times as big as Crocus, and was apparently bisected by a river. Great towers and structure dominated much of the city's skyline. It truly looked like an imperial city if there ever was one.

Gray made his way down to the city, which was surrounded by massive walls. He came upon what he presumed were one of several gates, and once he got into the city, he found himself having to carefully maneuver through the massive crowds. After getting directions towards the college, he made his way through the roads. Soon he came to a building dominated by a glittering tower that was capped in crystal, that reminded Gray of the stars. He immediately went through the doors, and into a hallway, that had ended with a man at a desk, working with papers. The hall was decorated with various tapestries and paintings of men in armor, accompanied with men in robes carrying glowing staffs pointed towards the heavens.

"Excuse me," Gray said as he came upon the desk. The man didn't even acknowledge him, as he held up reading lenses to the papers.

"This is the College of Magic, right?" Gray asked. The man still didn't answer.

"Are you even listening?"

"That would imply there is something else to listen to," the man finally said, though he still didn't look up, "Potential acolytes need to send word of their arrival in advance."

"I'm not here as an acolyte," Gray said, "I'm here as a wizard."

"Of course you are," the man said with a sigh, as he set down his reading glasses. He then moved the papers to the side.

"First, are you sure you have magical power?" he said, finally looking up.

"What?"

"I could count on one hand the amount of people who come hear _claiming_ to be wizards who can back up those claims each week," the man explained, folding this arms, "I need proof that you're a wizard before anything else." The Ice Mage just rolled his eyes.

"How's this for an answer?" Gray said, as he held out his hand, and an ice figurine appeared in it. That quickly got the man's full attention, as he looked at him intently.

"Ice Magic? Are you from Kislev?"

"Where?"

"So that's a 'no'," the man said, rolling his eyes and sitting back down, "Where are you from then?"

"I'm from Talabheim," Gray half lied, figuring he shouldn't advertise himself being from a completely different world, "I came here hoping to find my friends. They're wizards too."

"Well, at any rate, you are in the wrong college," the man said, going back to his papers, "This is the Celestial College."

"Celestial?" Gray asked. That of course made him think of Lucy, but he didn't see any keys on the man. The man looked Gray up and down briefly.

"Is there any particular reason why you're not wearing a shirt?" he asked. Gray looked down and noticed he indeed wasn't wearing his shirt anymore.

"Don't worry about what I'm not wearing!" he snapped. The man just blinked slightly.

"Aside from going to Kislev, the next best place to go if you want to explore your Ice Magic would be either the Jade College, or the Grey College," he answered going back to his papers, "I doubt the Celestial College can do you much good."

"I've already got a pretty damn good grasp on my magic," Gray all but snapped, "I'm not really here to learn. I'm looking for people."

"There is a City Watch post only a few blocks up the street." Gray groaned, running out of options.

"Look old man, I'm…"

"Master Wilhelm!" a voice called. Gray saw a young man maybe slightly older than him hurrying over. He was wearing a blue robe, and his head was shaved.

"I'm sorry for my friend," he said, "I called him here to talk with me." This old Wilhelm guy looked at the new guy and frowned.

"Very well," he said, "Move along." Gray was smart enough to play along, and did as he followed his new "friend" through a door, and down another hall. Once they were "safe", they stopped.

"I understand how frustrating that old shit can be. My name is Edmund," the wizard said, offering a hand, "I am a wizard of the Celestial Lore of Magic."

"The name's Gray," Gray answered, shaking his hand.

"So, you said you were searching for someone, yes?" Edmund asked, "May I ask you?"

"You wouldn't know 'em," Gray said, "They could be literally anywhere in the world now."

"Hmm," Edmund said, pursing his lips, "Do you have some kind of plan to find them?"

"Honestly, what I really need is some way to go looking for them," Gray said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, if nothing else, you could enter the tournament," Edmund suggested, "That might get you some resources."

"What tournament?"

"In two weeks, there will be a great tournament held to test the metal of the Imperial mages," Edmund explained.

"Really? What kind?"

"Nothing particularly extravagant, just some minor dueling and competition. More than anything else, its supposed to give aspiring wizards the chance to show off their abilities to the Emperor. They say the victor will get accepted into his personal service." Gray wasn't sure if he wanted to end up in the "personal service" of some foreign Emperor; but on the other hand, being an aide to an emperor would probably get him a descent amount of resources at his disposal.

"Well, I guess its better than nothing," he said, "How do I enter into it?"

"You have to register with the the Imperial Authority. I can show you later." _Well, still better than nothing._

"So, could you maybe tell me what exactly is this Celestial Lore or whatever?"

 **Note: Gray's making a descent enough impression on the Imperial Wizards. Things still seem to be going good enough for him.**

 **I know based on the lore I've read, that there are many different colleges for the several different lores of magic at humanity's disposal. I tried to get a solid description as to the location and layout of the colleges, but I couldn't find that much actually. To that end, I'm approaching this from a relatively self-invented perspective. We can just say that Gray ended up in the Celestial College.**

 **Please review.**


	36. Strauss Siblings I

_**Strauss Siblings I**_

"Gah!" Elfman moaned, his hands over his ears, "Can't they just shut up?!"

"No, I don't think they can," Lisanna answered, rubbing her head.

"This almost reminds me of Fairy Tail," Elfman said, "If Fairy Tail was full of mad cows that were constantly drunk."

"Don't compare these guys to Fairy Tail," Lisanna said with a frown, "They're not even close." However, that didn't make them any less loud. All that braying and roaring was close to making their ears bleed.

The Strauss siblings quite the adventure when they landed in this new world. Just their luck, they got dropped in the path of nearly 600 hairy, stinking, creatures they found out were called "Beastmen". While they were humanoid in appearance, that was the only human thing about them; they all had traits of goats and cows, features that made both siblings skin crawl. They were nearly captured, though they managed to fight off the worst of them using their Take Over magic. The Beastmen were apparently impressed by their magic, and they were allowed to join. Not long after, Elfman promptly killed their leader using his Beast Soul, and apparently by Beastmen law (though both siblings doubted that word's applicability), he was now the leader of the tribe, though he essentially shared the role with Lisanna.

The takeover hadn't been easy, and for the first three days of their leadership, the Strausses had to deal with all sorts of insurrection. By the end of it all, they probably had only about 500. According to the various members of the warherd, they were on the outskirts of a massive forest, which the herd had been marching into. For the time they were making camp in a small ravine; while the beasts themselves were in the ravine, Lisanna and Elfman kept to the edges of the ravine, so they could have a look down on them. They were now marching the herd West, hopefully out of the forest.

As things stood, the herd consisted almost entirely of what were referred to as "gors", though there were several Beastmen who were somewhat more human in appearance, in that they lacked animal heads and were called "ungors". Occasionally, they were trailed by harpies, and Lisanna and Elfman heard of minotaurs, though they had to see them. Then there were "cygors", but according to the Beastmen, they fed on the souls of wizards. That didn't make either of the siblings want them in their army.

"We need to keep moving," Lisanna said, "The longer we stay put, the more restless they'll be."

"Keep going East, right?" Elfman asked.

"Until we get out of the forest," Lisanna confirmed, "Maybe then we can ditch these guys." Elfman nodded, before turning towards the ravine.

"Alright everyone!" he called, "Get your hairy asses off the ground! We're marching again!" After some groaning, the Beastmen pulled themselves up. As they were doing it, Lisanna and Elfman noticed a large cluster of them gathered in a circle. That normally meant trouble, so the siblings went down to confront them.

"Hey, jackasses!" Elfman said, swatting one of them over the head as they approached, "You know you aren't supposed to be scheming here." Several of the Beastmen growled before Elfman.

"We have no schemes, Master," one of the Beastmen, who was named Tarak, said, "We were merely discussing something."

"Care to elaborate?" Lisanna said.

"Word on the path," Tarak said, leaning forward slightly, "The warherd of Garmot the Three-Horn is marching on the filthy elves."

"We should join them!" Martor declared, "We will crush their weak waystones and build our own great herdstones in the name of the gods!" Bellows of agreement sounded out. That didn't necessarily surprise the siblings, considering what they had heard in the past. But they had to encounter these elves, or any of the "tree monsters", that were said to lurk in this forest, and they didn't particularly want to.

"No way," Lisanna said, "We **are not** marching out to war." All the beasts looked at them in confusion.

"Why not?" another asked, "They are our kin."

"Its a conflict we have no stake in," Lisanna answered, "We won't waste our energy and potentially our lives on some pointless campaign."

"Nothing done in the name of the gods is pointless," Martor growled, approaching them.

"How many elves do you think are coming?" Lisanna asked, "You do remember we're in _their_ territory, right?"

"It doesn't matter," Martor said, "Our gods will carry us to victory as they always have. We will crush them under our hooves as we always have."

"Well, last I checked, the decision was our's, not your's," Lisanna said, poking Martor in the chest. The beast growled even leader.

"Think you're tough?" Elfman said, "You heard Lisanna, we're not doing any of this."

"Coward!" Martor declared pointing, "You would make us weak!" There were several growls of agreement.

"Last I checked, I beat you and your last master without much trouble," Elfman growled right back, "You want to test your luck?" Martor's answer was quite simple. He grabbed his axe and charged Elfman, who easily side-stepped the clumsy attack.

"Beast Arm: Black Bull!" Elfman said, transforming his arm. He then punched Martor in the back, sending him tumbling back, and crashing into the tree. A groan signified that he was still alive.

"Anyone else?" Elfman dared, holding up his fist. No one challenged him.

"Real men accept all challenges," Elfman declared, slamming his fist into his palm, "See to it that you remember that."

"This is our herd," Lisanna said, walking up putting her boot on Martor's head, "Are you going to keep questioning us?"

"No," Martor growled, glaring up at Lisanna, "You are the leaders."

"Good," Lisanna said, "Now pack it up, we're moving on! That includes you goat boy." She let Martor get up, and as he was leaving, she kicked him in the ass for good measure. He growled at her again, but didn't do anything else.

"Sooner or later they might not accept defeat like that," Lisanna said. They had quickly learned that the only way to maintain their authority, the Strausses had to show off there strength. The slightest sign of weakness, and the Beastmen would be upon them like…. well, beasts.

"Come on," Lisanna said, "No sense waiting any longer."

"March!" Elfman said, as with that, the herd continued advancing.

 **Note: Lisanna and Elfman could be having a better time with the Beastmen, but they could also be having a worse time I suppose. At least as times with the Beastmen go.**

 **This piece was mostly to establish their location, and what's happening to them.**

 **I know the Beastmen speak their own language, but for the same reason Lucy can understand the Lizardmen. The Beastmen present an otherwise unique challenge to write for in this story. While the Dark Elves and the Greenskins are destructive, dangerous beings, they are no friends of Chaos, whereas the Beastmen essentially** belong **to Chaos. To that end, the lore will be the skeleton, but I'm going to be creating my own muscle for it. There are going to be some major consequences for Lisanna and Elfman, which I won't elaborate on.**

 **For the time, I'm approaching their society as one based on dominance of strength. The strongest rules, and the strongest must routinely enforce their rule, and remind the others of their place.**

 **Please review. Next chapter, we're seeing Mira in Naggaroth.**


	37. Mirajane IV

_**Mirajane IV**_

Mira tugged uncomfortably at the clothes she had been given. The outfit was bizarrely comparable to a bathing suit, with a red piece covering her chest, and a similarly covered piece around her waist. She had armored leggings and armored gauntlets. Atop her head was a golden circlet with a thin blade coming out of the front. Since entering into Malekith's service, she had to wear this outfit almost all the time, especially when standing next to his throne, which she did quite a bit of, as she was currently.

"The issue is moot," Malekith said to the lesser lord, leaning on his hand, "My decision is final."

"Your Majesty, with all due respect," the lord said, "with no slaves, our industry will suffer. We need the labor."

"Since when are we so weak that we need others to prosper?" Malekith answered, rubbing his armored fingers together. The lord tightened his face in frustration, clearly still not satisfied with that explanation.

"Perhaps you would like to bring the issue to my aide here?" the Witch King said, gesturing to Mirajane. That made several of the other lords in the hall back away slightly, though the one addressing the king didn't.

"Your Majesty, this girl is powerful yes, but she is a human, how can you trust her?" Malekith merely snapped his fingers. Mirajane cracked her neck, as a dark aura flared up around. With a cry, she then assumed her Satan Soul form. The force of the magic sent the lord tumbling back. That was all he needed, as when he got back up, he fell to one knee.

"Forgive me, my king," he said, "Your will be done." With a not so subtle snicker, the Witch King rose to his feet.

"Well done, my dear," Malekith said, putting a hand on Mirajane's shoulder as he passed her. The woman just scowled at him. That had been her role ever since she agreed to serve Malekith in exchange for the slaves' freedom, either slaying Malekith's dissenters, or more often, intimidating them.

"If you have such grievances, you may take them up with my aide," Malekith said, walking down to the lord's level, "Does anyone have any?" Nobody said anything.

"Then that's all for today," Malekith said, waving his hand, "Take your leave." The lords did as commanded, as they all left.

"Come," Malekith said, gesturing to Mira. The Take Over mage did as instructed, but didn't bother to hide her glare, as she followed back to Malekith's personal study.

In her time in Naggarond, Mira had learned a lot about the Dark Elves, or the Druichi as they called themselves. Apparently they were offshoots of elves from the land of Ulthuan, across the ocean. Malekith had been denied the throne after his father, the great king Aenarion, passed away. To that end, he crossed the ocean, and established a rival kingdom in Naggaroth. Since then, they had been struggling for ages to retake their homeland. Mira was't fooled by any of that; she knew that they were just complaining about not being able to get what they want.

"You know I'm not some cat you can just order to hiss at your peers when you feel threatened," she said after they got to the office and the door closed.

"Try to think of yourself more as a rearing cobra," Malekith answered, as he sat at his desk, and started writing something on a parchment.

"Gee, that's so much better," Mira groaned, leaning on the desk, "We need to talk, so pay attention to me."

"What is there to talk about?"

"You're not fulfilling your end of the bargain!" Mirajane snapped, now standing over him.

"Could you please move, my dear," Malekith asked, waving slightly, "You're in my light, and this documents are potentially important." He hadn't even bothered to look up at her. That set Mira off.

"LOOK AT ME!" she snapped, swiping all the papers off his desk. That made the Witch King look at her.

"I'm looking at you," he sneered, "Do you have something to say?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked.

"You are a human."

"I know the slaves you've 'freed' are just being kicked out of the city into the cold with no way of surviving. Why should I serve you if you aren't willing to do anything for them?"

"The deal was I free them, nothing more," Malekith said, "Those were my words, which you agreed to."

"So that's it?" Mira scowled, "The son and heir of Aenarion, the great king of all elven kind, exploits loopholes?" That apparently struck a nerve with Malekith as he suddenly looked straight at her.

"Do not talk about my father, girl," he hissed, "Do not pretend to understand things you have no grasp on."

"You think you're the only one to get denied something they wanted?"

"The throne was my birthright!" the Witch King snapped, standing up, "And do not presume to understand our affairs you foreign bitch!" In response to that, Mira struck out at him in the face, catching him off guard. She had even struck with a enough force, that she noticed that his helmet had been knocked off, allowing her to see Malekith's face for the first time.

The Witch King's face was covered with burns and scars. His left cheek was almost completely gone, showing his teeth, and part of his nose, and both his ears were gone. His hair had been completely seared off, and he had a thin line that went across his face. In all though, he had an underlying handsomeness, that seemed buried underneath these twisted features. That sight made Mira take a slight step back.

"So that's what happened when the fire rejected you?"

"Where did you hear that?" Malekith demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"What does it matter?" Mira answered, "Does it change the fact that it happened?"

"The flames were wrong," Malekith said, "I have the best claim to the throne. Better than any other of those so-called kings."

"Does it hurt?"

"The armor dulls the pain," Malekith said after a moments hesitation. Seeing him talk was strange, especially when looking at him from the left.

"But it doesn't fully git rid of it either," he continued.

"So you just sit here pouting and wallowing feeling sorry for yourself?" Mira said.

"We will retake Ulthuan, and I will sit upon the throne I was always meant to hold," Malekith answered.

"And then what?" At first Malekith said nothing, as he walked over, and picked up his helmet, putting it back on.

"I said then what?" Mira said, "Its a question you have to understand. You think everything in existence will just fall into place after you've taken over? That all this bitterness and spite will just evaporate?" Malekith still didn't say anything, as the take-over mage's face finally softened slightly.

"Is it worth it? Is any of this worth it?" Mira asked softly. Malekith was silent for a time, as he walked over to the window and looked out over the city.

"I do not know anymore."

 **Note: Mira is starting to establish a presence here in Naggaroth, though things are are still not yet going particularly well for her just yet.**

 **I based Mirajane's outfit on those of the Witch Elves, only a bit more regal, suiting the Witch King's personal aide.**

 **I couldn't find any images of Malekith's face pre-Sundering, so I decided to essentially create my own based on the known features of burn victims. I'm also going to be expanding on Malekith's character, especially in relation to Mirajane, as it can probably be seen in this prior chapter, as I will with the whole Dark Elf race. For the record, if I had to assign the Dark Elves an alignment, I'd either give them Chaotic Neutral at the absolute best, and Neutral Evil at the worst. The destruction and devastation they commit is towards what is (at least in their minds) a greater cause; they aren't like the Greenskins who seek devastation to achieve personal bloodlust, or the Beastmen who seek devastation for just devastation.**

 **Please review. Next chapter goes back to Zhufbar.**


	38. Cana IV

_**Cana IV**_

Cana was quickly coming to realize that she wasn't going to be able to look for her friends anytime soon. At one point she was going to Altdorf, and then suddenly she was being sent back to Zhufbar to meet the king because she got lucky while taking down a Greenskin stronghold.

Along the way, she learned more about the dwarfen nation, which they referred to as the "Karaz Ankor". Apparently, it consisted of many different, semi-independent realms called "Karaks", which were ruled by local kings. Those kings then owed fealty to the High King, who ruled from a massive mountain stronghold called "Karaz-a-Karak", which was the capital of the Karaz Ankor. This dwarfen empire was said to span the entire length of a massive mountain range called the World's Edge Mountains. However, Cana also would find out that their empire had fallen into troubled times over the ages, and it showed. Now that Cana looked, she saw that the structures were cracked and old.

"I present King Morgrim Ironforge," Gorik said, "King of Zhufbar."

"Your Majesty," Cana said, bowing slightly. Morgrim looked carefully at her, though it was hard for Cana to see much of his expression behind all that facial hair.

"So you are the human that was found atop of the mountain?" the king asked, leaning on his hand, "I have to admit, that is not a common place to find anyone."

"Well, it wasn't like I actually chose to come here," Cana said with a meek smile, "It was sort of on accident."

"I won't venture a guess as to the accident in question. Is it true, you alone brought down an entire orc fortress?" Morgrim asked, leaning forward.

"A lot of it, I'll admit was luck and timing," Cana said, "I don't think I could do that again if I tried."

"An accomplishment is an accomplishment," the king said, "And we here in Zhufbar believe in commending accomplishments. What kind of magic did you use?"

"Its called Card Magic, and its exactly what it sounds like," Cana answered, pulling out her deck, "I use these cards as conduits for my magic, which allows me to cast various spells with them."

"Can we have a demonstration?"

"I can't use the spell I used on the Greenskins obviously," Cana said, "But here's something." Pulling out a card, she thought it in the air.

"Card Magic: Fire!" The card suddenly spontaneously combusted, sending fire arcing over the room. Many dwarfs recoiled back in surprise, but they all looked more impressed than frightened at the sight of it.

"Truly impressive," Morgrim said, "But I must ask, why did you call out the attack the way you do?"

"Its something of a magical incantation. It activates the spell."

"This is certainly a fascinating magic. I'll admit, I am not thoroughly familiar with the magic of humans, but as far as I know, they possess no magic like this," Morgrim said, "The ancestors may have willed your coming to the Karaz Ankor." Cana didn't try to think about that.

"You should be sent to Karaz-a-Karak," Morgrim said firmly. That earned some surprised glances.

"Your Majesty, is that really appropriate?" one older dwarf asked, "She is still a stranger."

"She brought down an army of Greenskins, along with an entire fortress on her own using a strange magic. That should be enough reason for her to be allowed to meet with the High King." Cana honestly wasn't sure that she wanted to meet the High King, but figured that she didn't have a choice, and maybe she would get some better means to look for her friends with the ruler of the Karaz Ankor.

With that, it had been decided that Cana would go to Karaz-a-Karak, which she found out was to the south, located at the highest peak of the World's Edge Mountains. Gorik had been the one to volunteer guiding Cana to the city, which she was thankful about.

"So," Cana said, joining him as he stood at a table with a map, "are we going to need another pilot?"

"We will go by land," Gorik answered simply, barely looking up.

"Really?" Cana asked in surprise, "But isn't it far?"

"Not as much as you might think," Gorik answered, "Karaz-a-Karak is here, and Zhufbar is here. Going by the bridges, we will probably be there within a couple days at the most." Cana noticed he was right, and it didn't seem especially far.

"You guys have bridges between the mountains?" Cana asked.

"Along with the Underway, they are probably some of the greatest dwarfen engineering achievements we have under our proverbial belts."

"Well, with that, I'm going to take a break," Cana said, as she left the room, "I'm going to need my energy to cross the mountain range."

They left the following morning, after they had all gotten some proper rest. The bridge truly was impressive. They were wide enough that Cana estimated more than ten people could walk across it shoulder-to-shoulder. It was so long, that Cana could only barely see the other side at the end.

"How many mountains will we have to go through?" she asked as she and Gorik walked across it.

"Only a few," Gorik answered, "The bridges only connect the largest of the mountains."

"Is there anything the dwarfs can't do?" Cana asked with a smile.

"Quite a number of things I'd say," Gorik admitted with a sigh, "Its a shame not enough of us are willing to admit it." Cana looked at him carefully at that. Figuring she wouldn't get much more information in that regard, she turned her eyes to the West, looking over the lands. Her position gave her a fantastic view down out of the mountains and to the lands beneath. However, those lands were not a particularly pleasant sight. A mist lay over them, obscuring almost al the land. What little of the land Cana could see was dark.

"What's that place down there?" she asked, pointing. Gorik glanced over, and his brow furrowed at the sight.

"That land is called Sylvannia," he answered, "At one point, it was part of the Empire, but now it is a cursed land. And that is not an exaggeration. It is literally cursed. It has been so for centuries."

"How?"

"The undead," Gorik answered, spitting on the ground at the mention of them, "Of the vampiric variety."

"Vampires?" Cana asked. She'd read plenty of books that featured vampires (including a crappy romance novel), though she always thought them myths. Granted a lot of things she'd seen and experienced she otherwise thought as myths were confirmed as well.

'While the counts of that land have never decided to threaten us, which I thank the ancestors for, they have been a consistent plague on the lands of men for ages. I pity those poor souls who are at their mercy."

"I'm not going to have to down there am I?" Cana asked, cringing at the mist cloaked lands..

"No reason you would need to."

"That's good to know."

 **Note: So Cana's off to see the High King (that sounds like a song, doesn't it?) at Karaz-a-Karak.**

 **I will admit, that I'm not the biggest fan of the dwarfs. While I adore high fantasy, and all their races, of the races, the dwarfs are my personal least favorite. I do like them, just not as much as some of the others.**

 **Please review.**


	39. Thunder Legion I

_**Thunder Legion I**_

The moment they arrived, the Thunder Legion almost immediately decided that they didn't like it. The place was dark, damp, misty, and all around unpleasant. But it wasn't like they couldn't just walk away wherever they wanted.

"I use to complain about the sun," Evergreen gripped, "It was always too bright or too hat."

"Please don't talk about the sun like that," Bixlow said, "It makes me miss it more."

"Miss it! Miss it!" his dolls cried out.

"Stop thinking about those things!" Freed shouted from further back as he pulled his sword out of a dead gor, "You do remember we're in battle here, right?"

"Right, right!" Bixlow said, as he and Evergreen both charged back into battle.

After getting sucked into the vortex at the guild hall, the Legion had been spat into this bleak land, which they would later learn was called Sylvannia. Just their luck, they were found by a particularly powerful noble, who happened to rule the region. They would've probably have been killed, if not for them fighting off the noble's guards, and impressing the noble enough, that he agreed to spare them, if they became his bodyguards. Not in a position to turn him down, the Thunder Legion agreed, albeit reluctantly. Now they were in the middle of a battle in Northern Sylvannia, fighting off a Beastmen incursion into the lands.

"You know, when he said 'incursion', I thought he meant maybe several dozen, a couple hundred at the most," Evergreen said as she blasted a pair of ungors away, and dodged a strike from a gor, "Certainly not a couple thousand!"

"Come on, we've fought against worse odds!" Bixlow said, as he leapt over a charging gor, and pointed at him, "Baryon Formation!" The dolls assumed formation, and blasted several beasts into nothing.

"At least those enemies didn't stink as much as these do," Evergreen said, as she flew over the Beastmen, releasing her fairy dust over them, creating more explosions.

"Stop your incessant griping, both of you," Freed said, as he cut down another gor, "Focus on the battle." The other two members groaned, but knowing Freed was right, kept fighting. Freed looked over the field; they weren't the only ones fighting. Much of the contrary, there were about 4000 armored warriors they heard were called "Grave Guard". At first that didn't sound like anything, but then the three found out that they were all undead warriors. These Grave Guard marched in near perfect lockstep towards the enemies of their master, compared to the Beastmen, who just charged at them roaring and screaming. They were certainly far from a danger to the Grave Guard, who easily cut down every gor that got in their undead face. That unfortunately lead into probably the worst part of the Thunder Legion's most recent adventure, the vampires that ruled the land.

The Thunder Legion was quite baffled when they found out that the master they ended up serving was a vampire. Its not that they doubted the existence of vampires necessarily (they'd seen far too much crap in the past to doubt), more that it seemed that even if vampires existed, they didn't they'd ever see one.

Freed couldn't keep thinking about the notion of vampires actually existing, because he heard a roar, as a gor started charging him. He held up his sword, and braced himself to face it. However, another blade suddenly appeared through the gor's chest, killing it instantly.

"No sense in stopping. There is still much work to be done." It was the individual they just so happened to be "employed" to; his name was Mannfred von Carstein. He was a skilled warrior, a keen strategist, and one of the most adept magic users that any of them had ever seen. And someone that the Thunder Legion knew was no doubt pure evil.

"Count Mannfred," Freed said, bowing his head slightly, his hand over his chest.

"You never fail to impress me," Mannfred said, spinning his war scythe through his hand, "I never thought that humans could hold such power on their own."

"So I observed," Mannfred said. That was when a minotaur came charging, practically out of nowhere, roaring towards the vampire. Rolling his eyes, Mannfred easily dodged the axe, and caught the minotaur by the heel with his scythe as the momentum carried it forward. He then held up his hand to the minotaur's face, as it glowed violet. Glowing energy came out of the minotaur's eyes and mouth, as Mannfred literally pulled the life force out of it. He clenched his fist, as the violet energy vanished into his hand, as the withered husk of the minotaur collapsed.

"I would advise standing back," Mannfred said, "This magic can be quite toxic to mortals." Figuring he probably knew about this kind of magic far better the Thunder Legion ever would, they did as their commander instructed. Mannfred then looked over the now vast field of corpses that formed the battlefield.

"I would much prefer not to have these abominations as mine soldiers," he said, "But necessity…" Mannfred then spread his arms, as a red aura lit up around him.

"Now rise and serve me!" he declared. A red mist came off his body and spread across the battlefield. It spread over the dead Beastmen, seeming to seep into their nostrils and mouths as they began to twitch slightly, before slowly pulling themselves off the ground. Soon, almost half of the dead Beastmen rose up, before hobbling towards the remaining living beasts. The Thunder Legion all cringed as the undead beasts easily cut through the living. One particularly daring gor leapt at one undead gor, swinging his axe into the undead creature's chest. However, the undead creature just looked down at the axe in the chest, and swung its own axe, cutting off its head with one strike. Soon enough, the Beastmen who weren't already dead at the hands of the undead, were fleeing.

"Shall we pursue them, Count Mannfred?" Freed asked.

"There is no need," Mannfred answered, sheathing his sword, and putting his scythe on his back, "They are more nuisances then legitimate threats to us." He snapped his fingers. Immediately, all the risen Beastmen collapsed back to the ground.

"Such filthy creatures aren't worthy of a place in my army," Mannfred said plainly when his bodyguards looked at him, smiling at them, "But I must congratulate you on your efforts in this battle. Thine magic is something to behold."

"Thank you, my Count," Freed said respectively. Bixlow and Evergreen both just nodded in respect.

"Come, we must return to Drakenhorf," Mannfred said, as he gestured. Skeletal horse suddenly galloped up, which Mannfred and the Thunder Legion mounted. They started riding them back South, towards the castle-city that housed Mannfred.

"Count Mannfred," Freed said, riding up next to him, "May I ask a question?"

"Hmm?" was all the vampire responded with.

"I have been told there are over forty thousand Grave Guard buried in and around Drakenhorf," Freed, "Why did you bring so few, with no calvary?"

"Mine armies were not needed for this venture," Mannfred said simply, "There was no reason to bring any more than I did. I would have to raise more soldiers."

"Are you preserving your army for something?" Freed asked. Mannfred actually glanced at Freed at that, narrowing his blank eyes.

"For now, you and the others have no reason to hear mine reasons," he said, "You will learn them in due time, but not now." Freed frowned slightly, but didn't press the issue, as he fell back slightly to his comrades.

"That guy still makes my skin crawl," Evergreen whispered to Freed, not caring if the count heard her.

"Until we can go, you have to muscle through it," Freed said plainly.

"So what do we do?" Bixlow asked.

"We hunker down and takes things as they happen," Freed answered, "And take every opportunity we can to gather information about our guild mates."

"I wonder how Natsu would've reacted to horses like these," Bixlow said, "He's bad enough with regular hoses. Skeleton horses, hah!"

"Hah! Hah! Hah!" the dolls echoed. Meanwhile, Evergreen looked to the East, towards the massive mountains int he distance.

"Count Mannfred!" she called, "Have you ever seen the dwarfs?"

"Many a time," Mannfred answered, not looking back, "One particularly daring dwarfen slayer thought himself brave in an attempt to slay me. He now serves as a guard for my treasure chest. Fitting end for a dwarf, yes?"

"Whatever you say," Evergreen answered, keeping her eye on the mountains.

 **Note: So the Thunder Legion has ended up in the service of the von Carsteins. This could lead to trouble, especially considering what kind of creature Mannfred is. And no, Laxus is not with the Thunder Legion.**

 **Mannfred von Carstein is a Neutral Evil character; he's no friend of Chaos, nor is he friend to anyone else; he's 100% out for himself, and himself alone. One of the things I couldn't figure out about the Vampire Counts though, was their religion. I'm not sure if we're lead to believe they worship the same gods as other humans, or if they favor some gods over others, or even if they just worship death itself as a god, or perhaps even themselves.**

 **Please review. Next chapter we're going back to Natsu.**


	40. Natsu VI

_**Natsu VI**_

"YAWN!" Natsu all but shouted, attracting the attention of every elf in the room.

"Is it truly too much to ask for you to show some respect sometimes?" Tyrion asked, glaring at the Dragon Seer.

"What?" Natsu asked, shrugging, "You didn't let me get any real sleep last night." He was in another war room, but this one was smaller, and it was less of a room, and more of a dome with a series of columns keeping the roof up. This allowed the dragons to look in on the effort. Among these dragons was Suranos, and of course Happy, who would occasionally poke his head from behind Natsu. Finubar had called this meeting to discuss an invasion of a continent to the East, and it was apparently still considered Natsu's responsibility to sit in on with all of it.

"If we may factor out our Dragon Seer's drowsiness for the time," another elf Natsu didn't remember the name of said, "I think we should begin the invasion with Tilea, here." He pointed to a part of the map.

"We can reclaim our old colonies, and we can split our forces into Eastern and Western forces from there, as we conquer most of the coastline."

"That's ridiculous, we should invade Estalia," a prince named Eltharion said, pointing at the map, "There is nothing but ocean and mountains, save for a pass into Bretonnia. We could land there, effortlessly wipe away the petty cities there, and control the whole region within a few weeks. From there, we could advance over the continent with little issue."

"What do you think, Lord Dragneel?" Tyrion asked sarcastically.

"I dunno," Natsu answered, putting his hands behind his head, "Why are you asking me?"

"I thought as much." Natsu just stuck his tongue out.

"These pathetic, small states shouldn't be of any interest to us at all," Tyrion then said, "The only nation of men that is somewhat prominent is the so humbly entitled 'Empire of Man'. We should terminate it first."

"How would you advise we do that, brother?" Teclis asked, "Do not forget, it is a large nation, with open land we would have to march across."

"We sail our fleet to Marienburg," Tyrion said, "They are familiar with elves, so we could plant agents in their city without issue, spies that could open the gates to our armies. Within a few days at the most, we could conquer the city, and have a perfect staging point for our invasion. The men are weak, and indecisive, they will be no match for our armies, and once we've conquered the Empire, the petty states will fall to us like wheat to the scythe." Murmurs of agreement sounded across the hall. Natsu didn't really think anything of it, since he didn't understand military matters at all. The murmurs were silenced when the king held up his hand.

"That is a sound strategy, Prince Tyrion," Finubar said, "But the Empire is vast, and expanding over such a large territory may run the risk of overextending our lines. They understand the land far better then we ever could. If we are to invade the Empire, we will need more than just one city to invade."

"Then where should we land, your Majesty?"

"Here," Finubar said, pointing to another spot at the map, "We will begin in Bretonnia, Carcassone more specifically. We will conquer the castle-city, and from there, we will expand over Bretonnia like wildfire."

"The Bretonnians are a powerful people, your Majesty," Teclis said, "Their knights are said some of the finest warriors in the world."

"These Britannians are still regular guys, right?" Natsu asked suddenly.

"'Regular' may not be entirely apt term, but yes, they are men, though the term is 'Bretonnians'."

"Whatever, I hate to sound like an old guy," Natsu said, "But Igneel once told me that anything can burn. It doesn't matter where you are."

"Wise words your father had," Teclis said with a smile.

"How many men do we have?" Finubar then asked.

"In total?" Tyrion asked, "We should have 500,000 by the end of the month."

"Very good," Finubar said, pointing back to the map, "We will gather our ships, and cross the sea with 300,000 warriors, and 30 dragons. That should be more than enough to conquer Carcassone. We will then divide into three branches, as we spread over the region. True, the Bretonnian knights are mighty, but they are few in number; most of their armies consist if poor peasants pulled from their homes and told to fight their liege's war, and as our Dragon Seer put it, anything can burn, even knights. Once Bretonnia has been conquered, we will use the whole country as a staging point to invade the Empire. From there, we can supply, and maintain our forces with much greater ease than with one city."

"We may not even need to take the cities," one prince said, "We could simply loose the dragons on the land. Those who do not bow to us, we simply turn to ash." Natsu didn't bother to hide his cringe at that thought, and when he glanced at Happy, he noticed the dragon visibly shifting in his spot.

"No," Finubar said firmly, "We are not like the Druichi. We do not kill and destroy for sport. We are going to conquer the land, but we are not going burn it all. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, your Majesty, my apologies." Natsu let out a slight sigh of relief at that.

"And what of the dwarfs?" another elf answered. As he said it, he spat on the floor slightly, joined by several other elves, though Natsu couldn't imagine why.

"We should march into each of their strongholds, raze them to the ground with dragon fire, and take back all they stole from us," another said, "The Phoenix Crown above all."

"No, we could never conquer the whole of the dwarfen realm," Finubar said, holding up his hand, "We would lose many good elven lives besieging and occupying the karaks, so if it comes to it, the only one will march on is Karaz-a-Karak. There we can reclaim the Phoenix Crown." Some elves seemed disappointed by that, but remained silent.

"And where does this leave Naggaroth and the Druichi?" Tyrion asked.

"I have thought about that," Finubar said, "That is why I am leaving another 200,000 warriors here to guard the land, with all the remaining dragons. And training shall continue, so we have more." He then looked to another prince

"Prince Alith Anar, you have long served and protected the Ten Kingdoms valiantly, and without fail," Finubar said, "As I will be across the sea commanding the invasion, in my absence, you shall be named regent of Ulthuan. I shall grant you command over the whole of the remaining forces."

"You do me great honor, my king," Alith Anar said, falling to one knee, "I swear upon the Cadai that I will protect Ulthuan with every fiber of my being, and more. When you return triumphant, with our empire restored, the homeland shall remain standing."

" **I shall personally see to it that every dragon in the realm remains alert,"** Suranos said.

"Thank you both," Finubar said, nodding, "And Lord Dragneel."

"Yeah?" Natsu asked.

"You will be joining us on the expedition," Finubar said, which surprised the Dragon Slayer.

"Why?" Natsu asked, cocking his head, "Don't you have enough guys?"

" **This is under my recommendation,"** Suranos said **, "Remember when you woke me, you promised you would play your role in the campaign to come. This is your role."** Natsu opened his mouth protest, but closed it, knowing that Suranos was right, and Fairy Tail members never broke promises.

"Well, with all that said…"

"Your Majesty," a new elf prince said, stepping forward, "There is one last matter we must consider: the matter of the Asrai." Uncomfortable looks spread around the room.

" **Who're the 'Asrai'?"** Happy asked.

"They are also called the Wood Elves," Teclis said, "They are the remnants of those who did not leave the continent as we evacuated so long ago. They dwell in the great forest of Athel Loren."

"They have refused almost every attempt we have made to reconcile with them," Tyrion said, "Our arrival to the shores of Bretonnia will elicit some sort of reaction fro them."

"I will admit, I still do not have a true strategy regarding the Asrai yet," Finubar admitted, rubbing his chin slightly "I will require further council on that, but if past experiences and knowledge is indicative of anything, they will not attempt to interfere in the coming conflict, so long as we do not make it theres. But we should still approach them. In the event that we can persuade them to join us, our army could potentially double in size."

"That is not particularly likely," Tyrion said.

"Regardless, I will continue contemplating and considering our strategies," Finubar said, "If there are any suggestions at any time, please deliver them to me. In the mean time, I will all leave you to your preparations. Long live Ulthuan."

"Long live Ulthuan!" With that, the group dispersed, as Natsu went over to Happy, who tried to move back. As he did, he banged into a column, shaking the entire structure, and getting a few raised eyebrows sent in his direction.

" **Sorry,"** Happy said sheepishly **, "I'm still not used to being this big."** Natsu then climbed onto the exceed turned dragon's back, as the latter opened his wings and flew away.

Natsu and his partner flew into the mountains, to a waterfall that was a top a massive ridge overlooking the ridge. It was a place that, since getting to Ulthuan, Natsu and Happy would clear their heads in.

" **Its weird having this tail this long,"** Happy said, looking back, swishing his tail **, "I'm always knocking things over."**

"Don't worry about it," Natsu answered, patting Happy's flank, "You're still awesome. Have you breathed fire yet?"

" **I've been trying,"** Happy answered **, "But I still can't."** To demonstrate, he inhaled, but all he exhaled was smoke.

" **I don't even know how I'd do it,"** he said.

"Don't worry," Natsu said, "You'll get the hang of it soon." His face then turned more serious, as he looked out over the ridge, the city in the distance.

"From the looks of things, you may have to." Happy nodded, as his tail swished behind him, knocking over a couple of trees, though neither the Dragon Slayer or the dragon noticed it.

" **What do you think we should do?"** Happy asked.

"Dunno," Natsu answered, looking up at the sheer blue sky, "But we have to do this. We made a promise."

" **But we'll be going to war,"** Happy said **, "What if.."**

"We can't think of that right now," Natsu said, "We have to think about what's happening now." The two then looked back out over the land.

"They said there are other kinds of elves," Natsu said, "I wonder what they're like."

" **Maybe we'll get to meet them,"** Happy said.

"I hope they don't have the huge sticks up their asses that these guys do," Natsu said.

 **Note: Oh Natsu, you have no idea. Otherwise, Happy seems to be having a little bit of trouble getting used to his status as a dragon. But Finubar seems to have his plan.**

 **I don't think what Natsu said is out of character. From his perspective, it was just throwing his two cents into it. He may not fully grasp what Finubar is planning yet.**

 **As for the size of the High Elf army, from what I've read, the bulk of their army is made up of citizen militia. Considering how long elves live and how much time they could spend training, its not preposterous to think that they could have a full sized army ready if they need it.**

 **Please review. Next chapter, we'll see Mirajane.**

 **Here's to** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **coming to its conclusion. I'm going to miss this series.**


	41. Mirajane V

_**Mirajane V**_

Much to her surprise, in what was now the month since she arrived, Mirajane was very gradually starting to get used to the cold climate of Naggaroth. Not that it was essentially any pleasanter, but it was getting more bearable as time went by. Also, Mira figured that as things went, things could have been a lot worse for her. Though perhaps she was just rationalizing what was happening to her.

The Take Over mage was sitting on a balcony, looking over the cold, mountains landscape. If it had been sunnier, it may have actually been a rather pretty sight.

"Pardon me, my Lady," one of the most saccharine voices Mira had ever heard called. She looked over her shoulder, and saw a woman about her height, with deathly pale skin, scantily clothed, and with a massive weave of hair that was tied up and back. She immediately knew who this person was.

"You're Morathi," Mirajane said, taking an instinctive step back. She'd seen her a couple of times, and heard a lot about her, but never actually met Malekith's mother. Mira was somewhat taken aback by the elf's youthful appearance; despite being Malekith's mother, she somehow looked only maybe a few years older than Mira herself. The Queen Mother of Naggaroth approached Mira, nodding in respect.

"Indeed I am, my Lady," Morathi said in a tone so respectful Mirajane didn't believe it for an instant, "My apologies. We have never been able to properly meet up until now when we should've done it long ago."

"I suppose we haven't," Mira said suspiciously, taking an instinctive step back.

"I must commend you," Mortahi said, "Not many have been able to take my son's ear like the way you seem to. Only a few aside from myself come to mind."

"Thanks I think."

"Another comes to mind. Have you heard of Allisara?" Morathi asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes." Mirajane had heard about her, but not much in particular. The most she heard was Allisara was one of Malekith's wives, who died in unknown circumstances.

"She was one of many who thought they could woo the Witch King of Naggaroth," Morathi said as she looked over her nails, "They all attempted to appeal to my son's nature for their own gain. I don't think I need to tell you of what ultimately came of them."

"Is there a point to any of this?"

"Those who become to close to Malekith, generally do not meet an especially favorable fate," Morathi all but sneered. On reflex, Mira charged up her magical reserves. She could've sworn that she could see Morathi's eyes glow a more than slightly sinister red.

"Mother!" Malekith's voice called, "Step away from her!" Mirajane never thought she'd be happy to hear the Witch King's voice as he made his way in, flanked by his guards.

"My apologies, my son," Morathi answered, "I was simply engaging with you're handmaiden."

"I am not a handmaiden!" Mira blurted out.

"You will not touch her," Malekith said, positioning himself between the two women, "Is that clear?"

"Completely, my son," Morathi answered, bowing her head, and taking a respectful step back, "I just presumed she should be warned of the dangers of this world."

"Yes, I suppose by being in your presence, she is being warned of the world's dangers." _That was subtle_ Mirajane thought. It didn't seem that subtlety really ran in this family.

"I will take my leave now," Morathi said, stepping away, bowing slightly "Sleep well tonight you all." Mirajane watched closely as what she knew some referred to as the "Hag Queen" take her leave, glad that the exchange was over. Malekith then took this as an opportunity to guide Mirajane away, and to her chambers.

"Avoid my mother whenever and wherever you are able," Malekith said, "She is not to be trusted in anyway."

"She's evil," Mira said plainly, as she sat on the bed, "You know that right?"

"I'm not blind," Malekith said, walking to the balcony, and looking over his capital.

"Why do you keep her around at all?"

"Here she is in my sights," Malekith answered, "I am far more comfortable when I know where she is and when." Mira briefly wondered why Malekith didn't just kill her, but figured maybe even he couldn't find it in him to kill his own mother.

"Malekith," she said, "Who was Allisara?" Malekith suddenly looked at her, surprised by the question.

"Where did you hear that name?" he asked.

"She was your wife wasn't she?" Malekith didn't answer as he averted his eyes.

"No, she was more than that," Mira said softly, "You loved her, didn't you?"

"It doesn't matter," Malekith answered after being silent for a time, "It is in the past. There is nothing to do about it now."

"That proves something to me," Mira said, as she walked over to where Malekith was standing, "You weren't always like this. You once had honor, nobility, and even love in your heart, didn't you?" Malekith looked straight at her, before slowly removing his helmet. However, this time, Mira didn't just see his scars. She saw something else in him…

"If I did, the flames have long since burnt them out," Malekith said, as he set his helmet on the table, turning away from her.

"You are the son of Aenarion, aren't you?" Mirajane said, walking up behind her "Your father sacrificed himself to protect you, his people, and practically the entire world. Do you think he would have wanted any of this? Would he have approved of this?" She could see the Witch King's fists clench at that.

"I…" But he didn't answer, since he had nothing to say in response to that.

"You aren't like your mother," Mira said, putting a hand over his, "You aren't evil, not in your heart."

"What do you know about that?" Malekith hissed, pulling his hand away. Now Mirajane saw something different him. A look of what almost looked like… pain, and sorrow.

"More than you might," Mirajane said, "Please, let me help you."

"There is nothing you can do for me," Malekith insisted, as he looked away from him. That was when something stirred inside of Mirajane as she stared at Malekith. A feeling she initially didn't recognize…

"The armor dulls the pain, right?" Mirajane asked, as she suddenly cupped Malekith's face.

"Yes?"

"Maybe I can do the same thing," Mira said. With that, she pulled herself up, and pressed her lips against his. She wasn't sure why she did it; it was almost an act of compulsion than anything else. Malekith at first pulled back, as he stared at her in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Mira said, "I…" However, Malekith pulled her close, and kissed her as well. After some surprise in her own right, Mirajane returned the kiss. Eventually the two parted.

"I generally pride myself on my ability of foresight and knowledge," Malekith said, "But I will admit, it is hard for me to ever admit I was wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"After all these centuries, I didn't think I could ever truly love someone after the death of Allisara," Malekith said, as he stroked Mirajane's face. Mirajane just blushed, as the two kissed again, as their tongues slid out, and entangled each other. After the two parted, Mirajane retreated back to the bed, starting to take off her clothes.

"My body….," Malekith began.

"I couldn't care less," Mira said, as she removed her last article of clothing. Malekith then eventually came up, and embraced her. With that, the two fell on the bed, ad Malekith began to take off his armor. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, the Witch King of Naggaroth felt truly happy.

 **Note: So Malekith and Mirajane are a thing now apparently. Morathi isn't going to like this.**

 **Let it be said that if not for Mira, Malekith would never have become like this. Malekith is not completely evil (at least not yet), and he was not incapable of love. In many respects, Malektih's evil is due to Morathi's dark influence.**

 **That said, based on the lore I've read, any relationship the two may have had left after everything that happened, evaporated when Morathi had Allisara killed. When the Wood Elves invaded Naggaroth, and went after Morathi, Malekith didn't lift a finger to help (not that he should've). Their relationship seems now more based around a mutual dislike, but also an understanding that neither is powerful enough to openly challenge the other, and that they may need each other yet in the long run.**

 **Please review. Next chapter we'll see Wendy, rounding out the elves.**


	42. Wendy V

_**Wendy V**_

Wendy was surprised to see that the Wood Elves weren't so much marching as they were simply darting through the trees on their own. And despite their being tens of thousands of them, they were remarkably silent. Even the stags that Wendy and Carla got pulled onto were darting with remarkable stealth. At the head of the army, with the Wild Riders, was Orion himself, whose piercing, aware eyes scanned the environment. The only party Wendy couldn't see were the tree spirits, who seemed to have disappeared when they entered the forest.

That was when Orion suddenly stopped, and held up his fist. The entire army came to an abrupt halt.

"What is it?" Wendy whispered to Asarith.

"They're straight ahead," Asarith said, pointing forward. Wendy looked through trees and couldn't see anything, but her keen nose and ears could. The smell was downright noxious, and the sound wasn't much better; it sounded like deranged farm animals. **(is that really such an inaccurate way to describe the Beastmen?)** Orion then flicked his wrist, and as Wendy looked around, she could see the archers ascending into the trees. The king then advanced further out, as the Wild Riders followed him.

For a little while everything was still, save for the noise through the trees, before Orion pulled out his horn again, and blew into it. And then, as some of Wendy's friends would put it, all hell break loose.

The Wild Riders, with Orion at the head, exploded out of the trees, where Wendy finally got a look at the Beastmen. Simply put, they looked like someone smashed farm animals and humans into one, with humanoid builds, but with bestial features. At first, they didn't have enough time to react, as the stags lowered their antlers, and the riders their lances, and smashed right through their flank. Whole figures were sent tumbling away, or crushed under their hooves. Some Wild Riders even leapt off their mounts, and put their lances through the Beastmen's gut or daggers in their throats.

Wendy kept holding onto Asarith, but when she glanced aside, she noticed that Carla had flown away from her Rider, and was in the air, away from the battlefield. Wendy was admittedly rather envious, but her thinking was halted when Asarith did, and all but pushed her off the stag.

"Go! Go!" he shouted.

"What…"

"Go and fight!" Asarith said, and before Wendy could say anything else, he bounded back into battle, slicing a beast's throat with his lance as he did. Wendy opened her mouth to call for him, but a gor leapt at her, and Wendy had to dive out of the way.

Knowing she had to keep moving, Wendy tried to get up and run. However, another gor moved in her direction, only to immediately fall as an arrow appeared in his eye. Wendy had to roll to keep him from landing on her. She tried to stand up, only to get knocked back down as a stag brushed against her. As she rose to her knees, there was a roar, as a forest dragon swooped over, breathing a strange green mist. When she finally got back to her feet, Wendy backed into a gor; the two briefly made eye contact before and elven woman carrying two swords leapt onto it, and started hacking away, as Wendy could only run. She had to avoid a minotaur running past her with an elf impaled on one of its horns. Suddenly, Wendy tripped on something and fell to her knees. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed to her horror that it was the body of the same elf who had sought her blessing before the battle had broken out.

"Is this… war?" she asked, barely blinking away the tears. Wendy couldn't dwell on those thoughts, though, as she saw a gor bisect an elf and then come at her. Fight or flight kicked in, and with all that was going around, flight won out, as the Dragon Slayer turned to flee. Unfortunately, she did not get far before she tripped, probably on another dead body, and landed face first on the ground. She looked up to see the gor coming up to her, its axe held up, and Wendy braced herself to fight. However, the gor suddenly bellowed in pain as a root appeared through its chest, lifting into the air. Wendy was splattered with blood, but didn't notice it as she saw what, or rather who the roots were attached to.

"Durthu? What are you doing here?" It was indeed the lord of the forest spirits, standing over her. Along with his sword, his leaves and branches were stained with blood, and Wendy tried not to ponder the red stains on his rooted feet.

" _The Beastmen are a blight on the forest,"_ Durthu answered as he lifted up the now dead monster _, "As lord of the forest spirits, it is my obligation to slay them whenever the opportunity arises. But I think the better question is why aren't you fighting?"_

"I… I don't know!"

" _Well regardless, you best begin."_

"I've never even killed a bug if I could avoid it!" Wendy cried. She could only think of one time she actual killed another being, and that was against the demon of Tartaros. Even that still occasionally offset her looking back.

" _That is not a choice you have the luxury of making anymore,"_ the spirit said.

"I can't do it!" Wendy said, "I can't kill anyone!"

" _In this world,"_ Durthu answered _, "You either kill, or let yourself be killed. There is no proverbial middle ground."_ With that, he tossed the gor impaled on his roots away, and waded back into battle, leaving Wendy to chew on his words. Or at least she would've if not for a gor charging her again.

"Wendy!" The Dragon Slayer was suddenly tackled away, and she noticed that it was Carla. The cat-girl was notably bruised now, and even had some blood on her clothes and face. Wendy wondered if she had gotten caught in the fights as well.

"Carla, are you alright?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I'm… I'm fine," Wendy said after a pause.

"Well then we've got to fight!" Carla said. Wendy opened her mouth to respond, but then a gor charged at them with an axe.

"I don't like this anymore than you do!" Carla said, as she ducked under an axe, and kicked the creature away, "But we don't have anywhere to run to, and unless we start fighting seriously, we may not get out of this in one piece!" Not giving her a chance to answer, Carla flew away, and before Wendy could process what she said, her attention was drawn to something so terrifying, it almost made her throw up.

Advancing on the Dragon Slayer was one of the most horrible creatures she had ever seen. At first glance it looked like other Beastmen, aside from its massive size, but as it got closer, Wendy noticed its single eye that was focused entirely on the young mage. That alone wouldn't have been so bad, but it was the creature's expression that was truly horrid; it was an expression of pure madness and hunger, as it frothed at the mouth, and its single eyed pulsed in what could only be described as desperation and madness. Wendy remembered being told of "cygors", and wondered if this was one. Wendy's first instinct was to retreat, but she remembered what Durthu told her, and with that, she steeled herself, and held her ground against the cygor as it advanced on her growling, and holding up its massive rock.

When the cygor swung it down with said rock, Wendy leapt out of the way; she was fast enough to avoid the strike, and she was fortunate enough that the creature was actually rather laborious in its movements, as if each motion brought it pain. If not for the circumstances, Wendy may have felt sorry for it. However, she took a breath, as she tried to focus. Despite everything she thought, she knew that Carla and Durthu were right, so she did everything she could to steel herself, activating her Dragon Force.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy cried, using her signature attack, striking it in the chest. Despite its power, the cygor was still more powerful, as it stumbled slightly, but remained standing, and Wendy knew that she would have to do more. The cygor roared, as it swung down its rock again, though again, Wendy easily dodged at it. She then leapt into the air, and brought down her Sky Dragon Wing Attack onto its shoulders.

The force of the attack caused the monster to buckle, and fall to one knee. It swung its fist up, but Wendy dodged. She then summoned a blade of wind, and sliced down across the cygor's chest. This drew blood, as the monster stumbled back. Wendy then seized her chance, as she took a deep breath, gathering her energy.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art, Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" The massive amount of wind, enhanced by her Dragon Force somehow lifted the monster off the ground. While it wasn't as high as Wendy lifted some of her other opponents, it still came up off the ground a good thirty feet, before it was slammed back into the ground. The cygor collapsed head first, its sheer weight breaking its neck. The monster then collapsed the ground, dead.

Wendy collapsed to the ground, exhausted. As she looked around, she saw that most of the Beastmen were in retreat, as they were picked off by the elves. It seemed that the battle had been won. Wendy soon saw Carla running up to her.

"Wendy!" she cried, as she hugged her friend, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Wendy answered, "What about you?"

"Tired, and a bit bruised, but alright all things considered," Carla answered, taking a step back.

"Wendy! Carla!" The girls turned to see Asarith riding towards them. A beast's head was tied to his saddle, which Wendy tried to avoid looking at.

"Asarith!" Wendy said happily, "You're alright!"

"More so than others, I'll say," the Rider said as he walked up, taking off his helmet, "How did…" He then noticed the cygor on the ground, as his eyes widened.

"Did you…," he asked, pointing. Wendy just nodded.

"By the spear of Kurnous," Asarith muttered in awe, "You might truly be the daughter of Hoeth."

"I promise, I'm not," Wendy said, somewhat embarrassed.

 **Note: Now I think its clear by this point that this story is going to be primarily about the FT characters influencing the WH world. But at doesn't meant the world isn't going to be influencing them. On that note, the story rating will soon be changed to M, for violence. And yes, I did draw inspiration for this scene from** _ **Game of Thrones**_ **. Bare in mind, the Fairy Tail mages haven't experienced true war like what the Warhammer world has. I know that the series always uses the word "war" (for what its worth, the Japanese characters for "war" and "battle" are very similar, so "battle" might be a more apt word than war), but they aren't real armies against armies most of the time, and more skirmishes than anything else.**

 **I've been playing lots of** _ **Total War: Warhammer II**_ **as of late. I've beaten the High Elf campaign with Tyrion, the Dark Elf campaign as Malekith, and the Tomb King campaign as Settra. Ironically I kind of suck with one of my favorite factions, the Lizardmen. The only faction I haven't played as are the Skaven, because I really hate rats (hell, half of my custom battles I fight them). I'm also doing a** _ **Mortal Empires**_ **campaign as the Tomb Kings (the faction I'm actually best with), and I'm gearing up for a massive invasion of the Old World.**

 **Please review. Next chapter we'll see Erza. I'm going to be making some edits to some of the previous chapters, to suit some planned revisions I have in the larger story.**


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